


Black Eyes Grey Soul

by CrazyDemigod666



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Prinxiety - Freeform, Supernatural - Freeform, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, logicality - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24575740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyDemigod666/pseuds/CrazyDemigod666
Summary: Virgil Sanders is a student attending one of the oldest universities in the country. Now that he’s left behind the world of hunting,  he’s on his way to get a degree in Archaeology and History. Having seen his fair share of horror: werewolves, vampires, wraths, ghouls,demons... you name it, he shouldn’t have to fear a lot these days. That is, until he suddenly finds himself sharing a dorm with three seemingly normal guys and he arrives home a little too early...
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 22
Kudos: 59





	1. Uni and hell aren’t  so different

**Author's Note:**

> I know it sounds like it, but I’m not following the SPN storyline, just using it as a reference and a base. The creatures are based on the ones from SPN and I do use the concept of hunting as portrayed in the show.
> 
> I won't reveal which creature everyone is just yet. You (and Virgil) will find out soon enough :)
> 
> Warnings: Knives, fighting, allusion to killing someone and that’s it. Let me know if I missed something!

It’s still a little dark outside when Virgil arrives. The cool autumn breeze plays with his hair, dancing through his hoodie. He pulls his hood up, tugging at the edges as he nervously approaches the campus grounds.  
At the end of a well-traveled cobblestone path you can find a grand, weathered building, towering over nearly every other one around it save for the bell tower. It cast an eerie shadow in dawn’s early light. Separating it from its surroundings, two structures stand beside the main building, posing like guards. In front of them, bushes shrouded every other flora in sight. Not that it mattered. They looked as dark and dead as the man made walls. If you didn’t know better, you might think anything residing behind them might be as lifeless. The students however, called this deathtrap home.  


Virgil walked up the steps of the institute known as the University of Bellmond. Inside, he looked around to find any sign of a front desk or at least a general direction to one. He paced up and down the hallway, backpack and duffel-bag bouncing along with him. After a while, he found what he was looking for.

A young lady sitting behind a counter, wearing a sweatshirt with the university logo, absentmindedly tapped on a keyboard.

“Excuse me,” Virgil said.

The girl ignored him.

“Excuse me”, he tried louder.

She looked up to him, soulless eyes staring back into his own. Virgil debated whether she actually was soulless or not. He’d encountered plenty before. Or maybe it was the fact she’d been there since 6:30 having to welcome people who for god’s sake shouldn’t be there at this ungodly hour.  
“How can I help you”, she managed to smile.

“Um, I’m here to get the keys to my dorm room? Number 182?”

A frown played on her face. “You can’t order a dorm room, you’re assigned one”.

“Yeah I know, but I’ve had the same one for years and this is really just a formality”, he explained. 

Really, it was. He made sure of that. You see, one of the perks of being a hunter, is that you occasionally encounter a witch. Now he may or may not have encountered one back in the day when he first entered this town. And that witch may or may not have owned him a favor for not killing him on the spot. So when Virgil decided he wanted to start studying here, he had a little arrangement with said witch. No killing in exchange for no problems as he stayed here. Simple. Normally he’d get his keys from him in person.  
‘Keeping up appearances’, ‘nobody can know I’m a witch and granting you any favors” yadda yadda.  
This time, however, he didn’t get them and he was instructed to do it the normal way. Which meant he had to suffer through this anyway.

“Uhu, well what’s your name then?”

“Virgil Sanders”, he replied.

She tapped in his name and Virgil was glad she found it. No matter how serious of a hunter he was, interactions like these still made him anxious.

“Virgil Sanders. Archaeology and History?”

“Yup, that’s me. Now if you could give me the-”

“You’re assigned number 36”.

Virgil’s heart sank. “ Sorry, what?”

“Number 36. You will be sharing your room with-”

“Sharing?!” he yelped. “No no no no no, listen, I’ve always had a room for myself!”

“Well that’s what it says honey”, she said, trying not to snap back at him. God it was too early for this. She handed him the keys for number 36. “So there ya go”

He bitingly took the keys. “Thank you”, he muttered eventually.

He trotted towards his new room. “I am definitely going to kill him now”, he cursed.

He wasn’t going to. Not yet. In fact, he was rather fond of the witch in a ‘I can’t stand you but somehow I do like your company’ kind of way. Nevertheless, he was going to have a talk with him. With some knives.

He stopped before the door to his new room, located at the end of the hallway. At least it was far away from everyone. And close to the fire exit. You never know when you might need to escape at the last second.  
He brought the key up to the doorknob, only to find the door already unlocked. Great, whoever it was he needed to share this space with was already here. Which meant they were even earlier than Virgil and he got there at 7:00 which meant that sleeping in was no longer an option with an early bird roommate.  
He was about to knock when he heard voices from inside.

“Unhand me, foul fiend!” 

“Not until you tell me where it is!”

Virgil dropped his bags and instinctively reached for the knife in his pocket. Whatever was going on in there, he was going to stop it.  
He barged in the room, knife at the ready as he tackled the person holding the other one hostage in his arms.

The person underneath him started squirming. “What in the world is wrong with you!?”

“I could ask you the same thing!”

The other one started screaming and knelt down beside them. “Please don’t hurt him!”

“Wait what?”, Virgil looked in surprise. “He’s the one trying to hurt you!”

“What? No I am not!” they protested as Virgil dug his knee deeper into his stomach. “We were acting!”

“Acting?”

“Yes! Ever heard of it before, Phantom Menace?”

Virgil loosened his grip. He examined the two guys in front of him. The one on the ground looked normal: no red or black eyes, just hazel ones. Wavy dark brown locks fell alongside his sculpted face. He looked over to the hostage. As far as he could see, he was unharmed. No scratches on his freckled face. The curly ginger hairs on his head untouched. Not even his glasses were askew. No weapons. No claws. No fangs. Just normal humans, acting.

“Sorry”, he said. “I heard you outside and I thought you were in trouble.” 

Can’t blame his fight or flight reflexes for jumping in. Virgil always thought of others first.

“Aww, kiddo, that’s really sweet but as you can see, nothing dangerous here!” he extended his hand towards him.

“The name’s Patton. Patton Morales.”

As he shook Patton’s hand, the other one scoffed, rubbing his arms and stomach. “The only dangerous thing here is the lack of appreciation for theater”.

“And the grumpy one you tackled is Roman Prince.”

Virgil smiled apologetically. “Again, my apologies”

“Yeah well. Sorry half accepted. Can you please put that thing away?” he gestured towards the knife, still in his hands. “It makes me uncomfortable”.#

Virgil didn’t even notice he still had it in his hand. He never does anymore. He had used the silver laced weapon so many times now, it might well be an extension of his hand.

“Right. Um,” he mumbled as he put it away. An uneasy silence fell between the three men.

“What were you doing here anyway?” Roman asked.

Virgil swallowed. “Well, I was going to settle in to my room-”

“Your room?” he clamored.

Patton gasped. “You must be Virgil Sanders! Our new roommate!” He hugged Virgil tightly. Sensing that Virgil tensed up, he released him as soon as he had grabbed him.

“Our roommate?” Virgil croaked. “As in, both of you?”

“No, the three of us!”, Patton blurted out.

Whatever good hopes Virgil had of spending the rest of his days quietly were now crushed. Now he had to spend his days with two more- Wait.

“Did you say, three?”

“ I hope that won’t prove to be a problem”, a new voice said.

Standing in the doorway was a rather tall looking figure, holding a suitcase in one hand and the other grabbing the strap of his shoulder bag. He looked a bit older than the rest of them, about 28, raven hair neatly trimmed, parted to the right. As he spoke with a stern but steady voice, he adjusted his glasses, accentuating his chiseled face.  
Why did all of Virgil’s new roommates have to be so good looking?

He stepped inside and introduced himself: “Logan Parker, pleased to make your acquaintance”.

Patton nearly flung himself around him as soon as he was within striking distance.

“Logan!” he cried. “I haven’t seen you all summer! Where have you been? How are you? Did you receive my letters?”

Logan hugged him dearly. He nearly had to hunch over to do so, but it didn’t seem to bother him.

“I’m doing well. Yes I’ve received all of your messages. I went to see my family. As you know, they tend to have certain restrictions therefore I couldn’t reply as often.”

“That’s okay, I hope you had a good time!” Patton smiled tenderly.

“I suppose you could say that”, he released him from their embrace.

“Now, to get back on topic”, he turned his gaze on Virgil, “I hope the fact that we four shall be sharing these quarters isn’t a hindrance to you?”

“I would be lying if I said it’s not”, he admitted.  
He never liked being in the same room with the same people for too long. “I’m not used to, you know, not being on my own. I've always had a room for myself."

Even before he started his studies, he only had Thomas. That is, when he wasn't on a hunt all by himself. "But if I have no other choice, I guess I’ll have to make do.”

“Well, then it looks like you have no other choice,” Patton chimed in. “And neither do we so, we better start getting along! Right Roman?”

Roman sighed. The thought of having to share his space with this emo nightmare was in of itself, a nightmare. “I guess so”.

“Alright then! How about we put our stuff away and I’ll make us some tea or coffee and then we’ll talk and get to know each other!” Patton offered.

“Sure”, Virgil responded, already moving to get his things. He walked over to the nearest bedroom before he was stopped by Roman.

“This one’s mine, if you don’t mind”.

“Not that I do, but who are you to claim it so eagerly?”, he asked defensively.

Roman shot him an icy look. “I prefer this one. The layout is just better”.

Virgil didn’t have to dig further to know this was absolute bull. But, he decided arguing with his new roommate this early on wasn’t a good start to their relationship so he let it slide.

“Any other bedrooms left that haven’t been claimed?” he aimed to the others.

“Well, we’ve been sharing this room for a while now and we kinda already have our own bedrooms so…” Patton admitted.

“The room next to mine is free”, Logan interjected. He walked over to show Virgil what would now be his bedroom.

“Thanks Logan”, he dragged his bags across the room.

“No problem at-”, he stopped as soon Virgil stood in front of him, making a strange noise before he sniffed and eventually sneezed. He eyed Logan warily, hand darting towards his hoodie.

“Apologies, Virgil”, you have a strong smell.”

“Jeez. Thanks Lo.”

Logan quickly realized he might have sounded a bit harsh.  
“I didn’t mean in a bad way! I’m just very prone to smells and my nose is quite sensitive. What I meant was that you have a very prominent odor, as you-”

“Specs, he gets it. No need to worry”. Roman assured him.

“Yeah it’s okay Logan”, Virgil relaxed. “I’ve had stranger encounters”

Logan laughed, relief washing over him. “Coffee or tea then?” he offered.

“Coffee’s fine. I’ll be there in a minute.”

And so they settled in. They spend the entire day talking and playing games, as classes wouldn’t start in a couple of days. The others told him they’d been friends since they all started here. Logan and Patton were friends long before that, growing up together and going to the same high school.  
Roman studied Biochemistry but he found his heart belonged to theater so he performed in plays whenever he could.  
Logan already had a bachelor in mathematics and was working on his Master in Astronomy and Astrophysics as he expressed a fondness for the stars and other celestial bodies.  
Patton studied Language and Literature. He knew English, French, Spanish and a bunch of other languages but his main focus was Latin and Greek. He was hoping he could take on the teaching profession after his studies. He tutored a lot of other students and seemed to enjoy that immensely. If he could make it his job he would take the chance as soon as it presented itself.  
Even though they just met, he could definitely picture Patton as a teacher.

“You’d be a great teach, Pat. Though Logan already looks like one”, he laughed.

“What can I say? Neckties”, he agreed.

The rest of the evening they watched a movie, Disney’s Hercules to be exact. Apparently, Roman was quite the fanatic. 

“Hades is not always the bad guy you know, in fact, he rarely does anything wrong”, Virgil complained.

“Didn’t he kidnap his wife Persephone?” Logan objected.

“Oh, that depends on which author you believe”, Patton chided in.

Virgil however, spoke from experience. He was a pretty chill dude. Met him a few times when he had to do some business in bone city. Don’t ask.

“Does it matter? In this movie he is and we root for the hero!” Roman struck a pose.

“Oh my god are you always so extra?” Virgil joked.

“From zero to hero, just like that man”, he grinned.

After a while Virgil felt his eyelids getting heavy. Bonding with his new roommates wasn’t so bad but it was tiring to interact so much with them. He was actually starting to like them, as a matter of fact. Maybe even considered them friends.

Although, there was just something about them that felt. Off. They acted so nice, so friendly almost like a family. He never had friends that were like that. It’s been a while since he had any that weren’t hunters. Or any at all. He’d grown accustomed to being alone, aside from the occasional visit from Thomas. He considered they might actually be fae or vampires and were going to either kill him in his sleep or abduct him.

“I won’t say I’m in looooooove”, Roman sang.

“Roman could you please not? Try enjoy watching the movie for once”, Logan sighed.

“I _am_ enjoying it!”, he beamed and continued his ballad.

Or maybe not. If they were trying to do something like that, he wished they’d done it sooner. He told the others goodnight and got up to his bedroom. They promised him they wouldn’t stay up too long and would keep it down until then.

Virgil sat down onto his bed, debating if he was still going to confront the witch about their deal. He decided not to, at least, in regards to getting his old room back. He kind of enjoyed this. Before he managed to settle in the sheets, his phone started buzzing.  
He looked up at the screen and saw a familiar name.

“Hi Thomas. Pretty late for a call, no?”

“Virgil listen, are you alright?”

He shot upwards. “Thomas is everything okay?” his anxiety started to build up.

“I’m-I’m fine. Are you? Did you meet your roommates?”

“Yeah I did, they’re alright”, he picked at his nails. “ Wait, how did you know I had roommates?”

The other side remained silent.

“Thomas?”, Virgil urged.

“I arranged it”, he admitted.

“You what?!” his anxiety was picking up the pace. And so was his heart. “Why would you do that?”

“To keep you safe. Listen, remember that demon I tracked last week? About that ritual thing?”

“What about it? I thought it was some kind of possession, no big deal?"

“I’m not so sure. He was talking nonsense when I found him, even more so for a demon.”

“What did he say?

Again. Silence.

“Alright that’s it I’m coming, where are you now?”, Virgil demanded.

“No! You stay there!”, Thomas replied hastily.

Virgil was yelling now. “What’s going on Thomas?”

“Look, I might have stumbled into something big. I don’t know what it is yet, but I know I’ve painted a target on my back in doing so and I can’t have anything happen to you. All I need from you is to stay on campus and near your roommates, okay?”

“Why? If this is supernatural related, I can help and you know it. I’m more than just an average hunter. Besides, being close to humans will only harm them!”

“It won’t”, he sounded hesitant.

“How can you say that if they’re around me? People always get-”

“Virgil are you okay?”, Patton called, his voice soft. “You sound troubled. Are we too loud? I told Roman to keep it down but if you’re bothered by the movie we could head to bed too?”

“I’m fine! Just a discussion with my dad on the phone!”, he yelled back.

Virgil took the shuffle behind his door as a sufficient enough response.

“Thomas I won’t ask again”, lowering his voice. “What is going on and why are you putting innocent humans at risk? Unless they’re not…”

He looked at the door. He had checked them all, right? No, he gave them a quick glance but he didn’t test them. For all he knows, they might very well be vampires or worse. But Thomas would never involve humans unless they were hunters too.

“I can’t tell you more than I know. I’ll stop by when this is over, okay?”

Virgil held his breath.

“Virgil?”

“Okay. Okay. What about my roommates? Are they-”

He was cut off by the sounds of shattering glass and what sounded like wings flapping.

“Thomas what’s happening back there?”

“I have to go Virgil, you’ll figure it out, stay close to them and don’t go to-”

Click.

Virgil stared at the screen. The content feeling about his roommates from before? Gone. The worry he heard in Thomas’ voice made him uneasy. He wasn’t quick to let Virgil know what troubled him but he knew that if Thomas was concerned about something, he better keep his guard up. But what made his stomach turn inside out was the fact that he hid something from him. He never did. Sure he wouldn’t let him in on everything but he never…He would never.

He shook his head.  
Thomas knows what he’s doing. He’s an experienced hunter. If he wants Virgil to keep close to the ‘people’ in the other room, he has a good reason. He didn’t know what it was, but he was going to figure it out.

Starting with his roommates.


	2. What's your name man?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil get’s closer to his roommates and wonders if he has found himself some friends after being alone for so long. But can he be friends with the supernatural?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mentions of knives and weapons, mention of an anxiety attack, fighting, character in pain, mentions of being hunted/killing. Let me know if I missed anything

_“Come on boy, you know you can’t win”  
One hit to his jaw.  
“He’s just filth”  
A push and a kick to his stomach.  
“Half good as a human and even worse as a hunter”  
A claw scrapes his face.  
“You’ll never be good enough” _

Virgil woke up in an instant, bangs sticking to his face and grasping his sheets tightly. He scanned the room for anyone who might be standing there, nightmares still dancing before his eyes. Nothing. There was nothing there.  
He let out a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his hair, brushing his bangs from his face. Slowly, he steadied his breathing. ‘In for four, hold for seven and out for eight’.  
He sat up and let his hand search for his phone. Its light stinging, he looked at the time.  
_06:08 AM._

Six AM?”, Virgil let out a surprised cry. “I actually slept till 6. Wow. That has to be a new record”

He tossed his phone back and rubbed his eyes.

_‘They’re not human’_

Right.

He had some things to sort out. 

Virgil got out of his bed and stretched widely, arching his back and immediately regretting that as his back cracked a little too harshly for his taste. He grunted and started gathering his clothes.  
Scooping up his blacked ripped jeans from the floor and a shirt out of his closet, its deep mauve matching his hair, he walked over to the sink in the corner of his room.

_‘You’ll never be good enough’_

He gripped the porcelain tightly, knuckles nearly as white as the sink. For a while, he stared at the the person standing in the mirror.  
The person he saw looked tired, bags heavy under his eyes. He looked frail, no matter how much muscle he had gained over the years, no matter how many vampires he had wrestled, how many times he had carried heavy bags with ammo and other supplies. The guy in the mirror looked like the ghosts he used to hunt.

But he also looked a lot better than he did before he started his studies. He didn’t have that pained expression anymore, or at least not as prominently as before. The scars on his arms were thinner, the edges softer. His knees didn’t ache as much as they did after a long day and his shoulders weren’t as tense.  
He relaxed his body.

“I am good enough”, he whispered.

Cold water washed over his face. He let the coolness seep through his skin, tingling his nerves as it did.  
He put on his clothes and grabbed his favorite black and purple hoodie. Nothing special about it to anyone else. To Virgil, it held good memories. He’d made it himself, a few years before he came to this town. He revisited the memory as he applied some eye shadow, masking the dark circles.

Thomas took him to a craft store after hunting a wendigo. His very first wendigo kill, to be precise. They’d stroll around for hours, walking along rows and rows of different materials. Thomas thought Virgil would want some pencils or sketchbooks after such a successful hunt and was surprised to find him holding rolls of fabric.

_“I know were a ‘rag tag’ team but now you’re just over exaggerating, Virge”, he smiled._

_Virgil rolled his eyes as he poked him with one of the rolls. “You wanna help me?”_

_“Sure, whatcha want to make?”_

_“How ‘bout a hoodie?”_

_“A hoodie? I thought you already were the coolest guy in the hood!” he laughed._

_“Why do I put up with you again?” he groaned._

_Thomas grabbed the fabric as he ran his hand through Virgil’s hair. “Because you’d be lost without me”._

A small line stretched along his lips. It was a good memory.

He finished applying his make up and walked towards the door. He listened to hear if any of the others were awake yet but to his relief, he didn’t pick up on anything. Before he turned the handle though, he backtracked to his closet and fidgeted through his backpack.

Inside were all kinds of flasks, weapons, booklets and journals. You can never have enough research with you.  
Eventually he grabbed a flasks marked with a small cross and a wooden box. Inside were various types of jewelry, ranging from leather necklaces to studded piercings. He grabbed two rings: one made out of iron and silver and the other out of steel and gold.

He placed them on either hand and put the flask in his pocket. If any of his roommates were supernatural, he would know soon enough.

He put his backpack away and ventured into the living room, careful not to wake the others. As he headed to the kitchen to make some coffee, he started to make a plan.

If they weren’t human, he’d had to narrow his list of suspected monsters. None of them showed having fangs or claws but those could be easily disguised or retracted. None of them seemed to have red or black or yellow eyes or any other color that wasn’t deemed normal for humans to have for an eye color. Then again, that too can be disguised.

_‘Eyes can flash black before you know it’_

But they go to college. They go to school. If they aren’t human, they have to cover it up if they want to pass as normal students. Vampires and wolves hunt in packs, with the occasional exception. Logan, Patton and Roman seemed close enough to form a pack but the way they acted wasn’t like that. They were friends for sure and he figured they’d do anything for each others but they weren’t like a pack of vamps or wolves. Individual ones, perhaps?

They seemed way too friendly for demons but he couldn’t take the risk. He seemed too weak to be a hunter and yet he wasn’t one to be trifled with.  
No, he didn’t think they were that grade of big baddie. Maybe they were hunters after all? That’s ridiculous. Thomas would’ve told him from the start if they were. Besides, they couldn’t possibly all be hunters and go to college as well.

Maybe Thomas was exaggerating or under a spell and they were just regular people after all.

“I can assure you I am very regular”, a voice said.

Virgil nearly jumped on the counter. “What the hell, man?!” Had he been talking out loud this whole time?

Logan walked over to his spooked roommate. “Relax, it’s just me”.

“Yeah, yeah I can see that”, Virgil replied hastily. “How-how long have you been standing there?”

“Not very long. I heard you mumbling to the coffee pot before I entered.”

“What did you hear?” he asked nervously.

“Not much. Only bits and pieces like “ they have to pass” something something and “ they’re too friendly”. And of course when I came here I heard you debating whether we were regular people or not.”  
Virgil's stomach turned. 

He hadn’t heard everything which was good, but he did manage to sneak up on him which, if he were to attack him from behind, was not so good.

“Can I have some?” Logan pointed at the coffee.

“Yeah sure”, he said as he looked through the cabinets and gave Logan a dark blue mug with galaxies, figuring it was his. He poured the dark liquid in and managed to keep it from spilling on his hands. Thankfully he had already put the holy water in it. “Milk or sugar?”

“Both please”, he replied.

He gave the mug to Logan awkwardly.

“If we were a little too overbearing last night, I apologize for making you uncomfortable”, he said.

“What, no you weren’t at all”, Virgil replied surprised. “Why would you say that?”

Logan arched his eyebrows as he sipped from his coffee. No reaction. No demon.

“Well I thought since you were wondering why we were so friendly and whether or not we were regular people, I believed it might be because we were too open with you and you appear to be a more secluded, introverted person. But I can assure you we mean well.”

Virgil felt his stomach settle back in place. Logan was so caring and friendly towards him. They all were. And as far as he could tell, he wasn’t a demon. Which somehow made him feel worse.

“No,er, I mean yes I know you do! I just…”, he looked at Logan. His t-shirt was loosely hanging around his torso, exposing his neck and arms more than they should've. 

Virgil wasn’t admiring him or anything. He wasn’t gazing at his arms because he imagined how they would feel around his waist. No he was looking for signs of the supernatural of course.

“I am a bit, introverted yes. But that wasn’t what I meant”, he sighed. “I never had roommates before or friends for that matter. You were all so kind to me and I didn’t know what to think of it. I still don’t. You and Pat and Roman...You’re. Different.”

All one hundred percent true.

Logan stared at him. He’d never thought someone would feel uncomfortable because he was nice. Usually, people did so because he wasn’t.

“If being kind and welcoming roommates means we’re not regular”, he sat himself across the counter, “ then I will have to retract my previous statement. In that case, neither of us is regular”. A gentle smiled played along his face.

“Couldn’t agree more”, Patton yawned loudly as he joined Logan and Virgil.

“That sounds _tea-riffic!_ ” Patton replied.

“But it’s coffee”, Logan remarked.

“Aww come on Logan, it’s 6:30 in the morning”, Virgil interjected. “Are you really going to _roast_ him this early?”

Patton’s eyes must have been replaced with light bulbs because he was glowing with excitement. 

“Oh my stars there’s two of em”, Logan groaned.

“Don’t get your hopes up”, Virgil quickly retorted.

“Good enough for me!”, he hugged Virgil, nearly knocking over his coffee in the process.

“Oh sorry”, he released him, “I should’ve asked first if you were comfortable enough with a hug”.

“It’s fine”, Virgil admitted as he allowed Patton to put his hands behind his neck again. He felt warm and safe in his embrace and lingered a little longer than necessary before he remembered he might be hugging something that could tear out his spine in an instant.

“Right, so”, he promptly let go of his roommate. “Any plans for today?”

“I was going to help Roman rehearse some more today after. You know.”

“After I tackled him, yeah don’t remind me”, Virgil muttered.

“I was going to pick up some books from the library”, Logan said. “What about you?”

_‘Oh you know, using various metals and other things to see whether or not any of you might be a monster so I can kill you if necessary and figure out why my brother/guardian isn’t telling me everything about a stupid hunt that was supposed to be a really easy one. Mind letting me slip my silver knife against your neck to see if you’re a werewolf?’_

“Oh you know. Nothing much really.” he lied. “I have a thesis to write so I’ve got loads of time to spend on...stuff.”

They looked at him warily. 

“Okaaay? You’re welcome to come along with me in case you would like some books as well?” Logan proposed.

Virgil thought about it. If he went along he could check Logan thoroughly but that meant he had to check Patton and Roman later on and he wanted to cross off as many things from his list as soon possible. However, both he and Patton were already cleared as far as demons went. When he hugged Patton, he didn’t show any reaction to his rings which ruled out a number of beings. So far, he seemed the least threatening of all of them both in regards to his demeanor and risk factor. That just left Roman as the only one not yet tested by anything. He considered maybe Patton might be human after all and if he left him with Roman it would be okay since they’re friends-

“Um earth to Virgil?” Patton waved a hand in his face. “If you don’t want to go with you can just say so, you know”.

“What? Oh, no sorry, no, I mean, yes. Yes, I’d like to come”, he rambled. 

_‘Man, I really need to focus more on what’s going on in front of me’._

“Satisfactory. We’ll leave at 10”, Logan walked over to the sink and promptly started washing his mug. “That will give us more than enough time to get what we need. We could even get lunch for all of us before we come back”.

“Oooooh could you please bring me some cupcakes from the bakery? Pretty please Logan!”, Patton cupped his hands in a pleading manner.

Logan let out a soft sigh as he placed his mug on the drying rack. “You don’t have to puppy eye me everytime you ask that. Of course I will”.

“Yay!”, Patton yelled excitedly and he hugged Logan from behind, burying his head in his t-shirt.

Virgil really hoped they actually were monsters. If they weren’t, he couldn’t bare the thought of people this sweet getting hurt because of him.

\------------------------  
They left at 10 o'clock sharp. Logan liked being punctual even though he stated they would have plenty of time to collect their books. Roman stumbled into the living room right before they left and waved them goodbye whilst starting his morning serenade.

Yes, Virgil learned that was a thing he did every morning. Thank god he couldn’t sleep till that happened.

They found most of Logan’s books soon enough. He had reserved most of them but the last ones they had to go find themselves. ‘Astrophysics for People in a hurry’, “Sounds interesting”, Virgil said.

“It is. I’ve read it a few times already”, Logan replied whilst browsing the shelves for it.

“Impressive”, he commented.

“Thank you. Any luck finding your copies?”

“Huh?”, Virgil didn’t even think about the ones he needed. “Oh, no. No luck yet. But I found yours”. He handed Logan a thick and heavy hardcover.

“Ah, gratitude Virgil” Logan simpered. “Would you like me to assist you on your quest in return?

“Uh sure you can grab basically anything remotely related to the the Hellenistic era. I don’t really know what I’m gonna do yet but I’d like to read about the era’s that interest me most before I do anything anyway. Maybe a comparison between different burial styles and their mutual influence? Or an analysis of building materials?”, he continued to list more topics he could dive into.

Logan looked amused by Virgil’s trail of thought and giggled. It was nice to have someone around him that liked to talk about their interests as much as he did. He started to gather a few books he thought Virgil might find useful while he listened intently.

“All of those sound like wonderful topics”, he finally said.

“You think so? Which one sounds the best?”

“I wouldn’t know. Archaeology isn’t my area of expertise though it certainly peaks my interest.”

“Really? I thought you’d prefer everything outside the earth’s atmosphere?”, Virgil teased.

“Even though I like to study everything I can related to space, I find archaeology to be equally promising. A lot of architectural sites were dedicated to astrology, you know. It’s incredibly fascinating how ancient civilizations, who couldn’t even dream of the equipment we use today, were able to deduct the movement of planets and constellations by simply looking up and calculating their patterns. If not for them, our whole perception might be different. Even the names we have given to our planets stem from thousands of years ago.  
Could you imagine if we were able to apply the same science and logic back then? How wonderful must our advancement have been? Even today we still discover new things thanks to archaeologist unearthing different methodologies from beyond the grave, linking us to our ancestors and providing substantial amounts of new propositions for us to ponder about!”

Virgil looked at him in awe, taking in all the astonishing things he said.

“I’m sorry”, Logan said, adjusting his glasses. “I didn’t mean to dump that much information.”

“That’s alright. You can talk as much as you want about it”, he reassured him.

“I can?” he was surprised Virgil would allow him to do so.

“Sure you can. There’s nothing wrong with talking about what you like. No one should be ashamed because they are passionate about something”, he gave him a little nudge. “Unless it’s murder and stuff.”

They both laughed at that.

“Why didn’t you study Archaeology then? You could’ve helped me out a lot when I started.”

“I considered it”, Logan admitted. “But my family preferred otherwise.”

“Oh”, Virgil spoke softly, “Strict parents?”

“I suppose you could call them that yes”, he held the books in his arms a little tighter. “They just want what’s best for me and I appreciate everything they do for me.”

“If you’re not happy, then it’s not the best for you, Logan”, Virgil took the copies from him. “Are you?”

“Am I what?”, he asked.

“Happy. Are you happy with what you’re doing, with your life?”

Logan asked himself that question every now and then as well. Is this what he wanted to do?

“I am very pleased with my studies”, he replied. “ I still like astrology and astronomy. But I suppose I would’ve liked it even more if I had more say in the matter though I still would’ve picked this course of action.”

“If you say so”, Virgil leaned back against the bookcases. “Just remember you’re allowed to do what you do once in a while.”

If only he could tell him he wasn’t. Not with his family.

“I appreciate your honesty and concern”. He really did. Strange how someone you’ve only just met can tug at your heartstrings so effortlessly. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Yeah I think we’re all set.”

They checked out their books and made their way to the bakery to get some cupcakes for Patton.

“Which one does he like?”; Virgil asked, gazing at all the colorful delicacies in front of him.

“Pretty much everything, though he likes the one with blue frosting the most.”, Logan informed him as he ordered some. “Which one would you like?”

“Hmm?” Virgil had a hard time tearing his eyes away from the case. “I don’t really care.”

“Alright then.” Logan turned towards the cashier. “Add one of each please.”

“Wait what”, Virgil jerked his head around. “No don’t do that.”

“Too late”, he thanked the cashier and put the change into his pocket as he handed the bag of goodies to Virgil. “I’ve been told that if you can’t decide, pick one of everything.”

“You didn’t have to do that Logan”, Virgil accepted the bag gratefully.

“Of course I do. I’m allowed to do what I want once in a while, right?” he grinned.

“Thanks Lo. I appreciate it”, he said as he tried to take one of the cupcakes.

Logan grabbed the bag before he could do so. “No dessert before you’ve eaten.”

Virgil chuckled. “Wow, I never took you for the mom of the group!”

Logan’s cheeks flushed red. “I can assure you I am not the mom.”

“If Patton’s the dad then you have to be the mom”, Virgil joked.

Was it possible for skin to burn like the sun? Yeah, his cheeks were definitely on fire. “I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“Chill man, I’m get it”, Virgil nudged closer, inches away from Logan’s face. “I won’t tell Patton.”

“Tell him what?”

“Oh nothing”, he edged his way outside, jogging along the trail towards their dorm , “That you liiiiiiiiiike him.”

“Virgil Sanders you get back here!” he ran after him, grappling Virgil before he could go any further.

Virgil laughed loudly, causing Logan to release him fairly quickly. “I’m kidding, Logan. I won’t say anything.”

“You better not”, he said sternly, readjusting his clothes and tie. “Or I will have no choice but to terminate you”.

Virgil chuckled at that. “You, terminate me? Alright then. But you’ll have to catch me first!”

So they started their game of cat and mouse again. They returned to their dorm shortly afterwards.

“Did you bring food?” Roman asked while finishing his last act.

“We sure did”, Virgil replied. “Hope you like Mexican food! Oh and cupcakes”.

He handed the box full of rainbow sweets to Patton. “Oh thank you thank you thank you!”, he hugged Virgil and Logan.

“Not a problem buddy but could you please let us breathe?” Virgil croaked.

“Oh yeah sorry!” Patton replied.

“Not sure why you’re so excited about those."

“Oh, so you don’t want yours then?” Logan playfully quipped.

“What no back off I’ll take them!” he snapped back defensively. They all chuckled at that.

Lunch was a great opportunity for Virgil to test his roommates. Although he should’ve been more focused on that part, he quickly forgot about it as the minutes passed.  
In fact, he forgot all about it during the following days. He didn’t think about his roommates possibly plotting to kill him anymore. Instead he thought about how much he enjoyed their company. Patton’s schedule was fairly similar to his own so they met up for lunch quite often, stopping by the bakery a little too much for Logan’s taste.

“You shouldn't eat so much processed sugar.”

“You should eat more of it”, they would banter back at him to which he just rolled his eyes.

Virgil adored the way Patton would jump up and down when one of the students he tutored got a good grade, insisting he’d buy them a treat as a reward. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t refuse him.

He liked the way he and Roman could banter without worrying about saying something wrong. 

“The world’s a stage Virgil! And sometimes you mess up your lines, but the show must go on!”

They even went to one of Roman’s shows. He hated to admit it, but he was an amazing actor and singer, switching roles so easily he swears he turned into a different person. And the costumes he had to put on, well let’s say Virgil didn’t mind it when he wore them at their place.

He appreciated how Logan could give him his space whenever he felt like the world was collapsing. How he was so calculating whenever he was not, providing him with facts to prove to him it wasn’t as bad is it seemed. He would accompany Virgil whenever he went out to train (Ex-hunter or not, he still had to maintain his physique) and make sure he wouldn’t push his limits too much.  
Sure it was nice to look at him too when was stretching and running tracks like it was the easiest thing to do.

Yes, he was embarrassed when he missed the punching bag because he got distracted staring at Logan’s biceps and even more so when Logan cackled because of it but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.  
He really, really liked his friends. 

Was that what they were now? Could he finally allow himself to call them that? After just a few days, a couple of weeks? Was that okay? Having other people in his life besides Thomas? He would do anything for them. Was that what friends do?

After spending most of his day in the library, he got up and walked back home, to his roommates.

He pondered some more, scared he was overstepping his boundaries. Roommates don’t have to be friends. But they were more to him than just roommates. Maybe he should just ask them. If not, then at least he would be put out of his misery. And if they were, even better. Yeah, he could ask them. 

His sneakers squeaked on the tile floors of the dormitory, providing the only form of sound save from the steady buzzing of the lights above him. He stopped before number 36 and pulled out his keys, hearing his roommates on the other side.

Talk about deja vu.

“We can’t tell him yet, Patton.”

Virgil hesitated. Who were they talking about?

“Why not? I think if there’s anyone who understands, it’s Virgil.”

“Maybe, but we can’t just tell him. Who knows how he might react?”

“Guys could you stop it?” Roman complained.

He sounded strange, his voice hoarse like he was sick. He didn’t seem so this morning.

“I don’t want him to know okay?”

“Roman get your butt back on the couch!”

Virgil assumed they coached him to lie down again because he didn’t hear him resist.

“You should go home Roman. This isn’t normal”.

“When is anything normal with us”, he chuckled. “And I can’t go home. He can’t see me like this…” he started coughing.

“Well neither can Virgil. We don’t know if we can trust him.”

Logan’s words hit him like a truck. They didn’t trust him. Why did he think they would? He should’ve known better. He did know better. He wasn’t meant to have friends like them. They were just his roommates, nothing more than that. Maybe he should try to get his old room back, spare him the heartache. No! It’s not a heartache. He was not allowing himself to feel like this, like he actually had a chance. He was fine. This was fine.

Treacherous tears started to form, accumulating around the edges of his eyes. Traitors, snakes, snitches. 

‘Don’t you dare betray me like this’, Virgil thought. ‘After all these years you know how to control yourself. Get it together Sanders”.He took a deep breath, wiping away at the tears before they had a chance to roll down his cheeks. If they felt this way about him, then so be it.

He turned the handle and walked in on a scenario he didn’t expect to be displayed before him. He assumed Roman would be a little pale, and Patton would be pressing a cold cloth to his forehead while Logan got him some painkillers or something. 

He assumed they would tell him he just had a cold and there was nothing to see. He had assumed they were normal roommates.  
What he didn’t expect was to see the couch ripped open, stuffing scattered across the room and towels covering Roman like a mummy. He didn’t expect there to be so much...stuff everywhere, covering the floor, Logan and Patton and oh god. Was that..

“Is that blood?” he stared in shock at the red stains on their clothes.  
“Whaaaaaaaat no”, Patton forced a smile. “Just um….Cherry juice?” he jumped in front of the couch. “You’re home early today Virgil. I thought you said you wouldn’t come home until 9 tonight?”

“Yeah I decided to come back earlier. What are you-”

He quickly stepped in front of him. “Nothing to see here Virgil! Just a sick Roman, he ate something bad, probably food poisoning, or maybe the flu, you shouldn’t get too close you might catch it” he continued to ramble.

“Patton what the hell are you talking about? If he’s sick he needs a doctor. And whatever he has”, he gestured towards everything, “couldn’t possibly explain what’s going on here!”

He tried to get to Roman, but Logan stopped him. “It’s better if you let us handle it, Virgil. We know what to do”.

“We do?” Patton asked.

Logan shot him a panicked look. “I mean, of course we do! Just let us handle Roman, we’ve known him for so long we’ll take care of him!”

At that moment, Roman started convulsing and thrashing.

“Yeah I don’t believe you two”, Virgil replied as he darted over to Roman. “Now what’s really going on with you?”

“I’m fin-fine”, he muttered before he clutched his stomach, his hands clutching his arms so tightly he would’ve caused some bruises to form.

“You might be a great actor, Princey, but you can’t lie to save a life”.

Roman huffed. “And you do?”

He let out a soft cackle. “I lie professionally”. He stretched his arm to touch Roman but Logan pulled him away before he could.

“Don’t”, he warned him. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Pretty sure I know.” He analyzed his roommate: he was shaking, tugging at his clothes. His temperature was high, almost as if the blood in his veins was boiling and yet he was shivering severely. Beads of sweat danced around his face, eyes swollen and red. In summary:

“He looks like shit.”

“Thanks for the compliment Jerky McJerkface”.

“And his nicknames suck. He must be really sick.” he placed his hands on his arm, just a light touch but Roman screamed in agony when he did so.

“What are you doing!?” Patton cried.

“Nothing I just put my hand-”, he looked at his hand. He was wearing his iron and silver ring. Iron and silver.

“Which metal is it?” he asked.

“Wha-what?”, Roman forced himself to look at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My ring, it’s made out of iron and silver. Which one is it that hurts you?”, he asked again, keeping a low and steady voice.

Roman shot a glance at Logan.

“Silver”, he replied.

“Alright then. I’m guessing by the way you’re shaking and convulsing you’re going through some internal process as you don’t seem hurt by anything exterior. Add to that the burn you just got from my ring I’m assuming you’re a shapeshifter?”

They all looked perplex.

“You know?”, Roman eyed him warily.

Virgil shrugged. “I know now. I also know that shifters around your age have to endure some heavy changes, correct?”

He nodded.

“Alright judging from the state you're in, you usually don’t shift that much or at least, not that excessively.”

They looked at each other nervously.

“How do you know this?”

“Experience”, he answered, not wanting to let them in too much, “ did you take countermeasures already?”

“What countermeasures?”, Logan asked.

“I take that as a no.”, Virgil looked around at the ripped and bloodstained couch. He needed to act fast before Roman was going to hurt himself or them.

“Logan, go into my room and get my backpack. Patton, get some more towels and Roman?

“Hmm?” Roman replied.

“You have to get up buddy.”

“Can’t”, he argued.

“You have to. I need you to take a shower.”

“A shower? How is a shower going to help?”, Patton asked while he and Logan ran to do as they were instructed.

“The warmth will help your muscles relax and help free your airway, which is going to shut down if we don’t get you in there quickly”, he explained.  
”As soon as that’s done, I will douse you in cold water, making them tense up and close your pores. Your body will react to undo that as it’s trying to renew your cells and can’t afford these detours. As it’s trying to do that, I will have enough time to prepare the potion.”

“Potion? You’re a witch then?” Roman grunted as he tried to get up.

“Not really. But it doesn’t matter. You guys ready?”, he held Roman in his arms and carried him to the bathroom.

“Ready”, they confirmed.

“Alright, this is gonna be messy”, he sighed.

And boy, was it messy. Roman didn’t have any problem with the warm water, it felt really nice actually, but as soon as Virgil turned the temperature down he wailed and screamed, nails digging into his arms as he clawed at his skin.

It took all of Logan’s strength to keep him from getting away as Patton tried his best to prevent Roman from ripping his flesh open. 

“I’m really sorry Roman but you have to stay calm”, Logan tried to convince him.

His eyes turned to slits and he was hissing and snarling.

“Patton do something, get him to calm down!” he cried out.

“You know I don’t like to unless I have to!” Patton answered his cry.

“This seems like an appropriate moment to do so, no!?”

“Just keep him in there for a few more minutes!” Virgil yelled back while he was mixing a few potions. “I’m almost done!”

Roman started to growl, his face awry with pain. He nearly got away from Logan as he bit his arm.

“Patton!” he screamed

“Fine!”, he placed a tender kiss on Roman’s forehead before he proceeded to sing:

_“Roman Prince you listen to my voice”  
“Hear my words you don’t have a choice”  
“You will calm down and do as I say”  
“You shall stay put and remain this way”_

Roman immediately calmed down, though he was still resisting their grip.

“Sorry”, he said through gritted teeth.

“It’s okay, kiddo”, Patton said shakily. “It’s okay”.

Guess Patton wasn’t the least harmful of them after all. Virgil had to refocus a lot before he was finally able to finish the potion.

“I’m done, I’m done!, he informed the others. He ran to the bathroom and brought the bottle to Roman’s lips. “Drink up, Princey.”

“It reeks”, he lurched his head away.

“Suck it up and drink Roman”, Logan pressed on. 

He grudgingly took the potion. As soon as the liquid touched his lips he felt his body waver and he slumped forward, his body liquefying. “What the f-”, his mouth became numb, his jaw loosened, head falling down like a ragdoll.

“Careful”, Virgil caught him. “We’ve got you buddy. We’ve got you”.

They transported him to the living room after drying him off and making sure he hadn’t wounded himself or the others too badly.

“W-wh-yyy.” he couldn’t get the words to come out like he wanted to. “Wa- wha…?”

“You won’t be able to talk for a few moments. Your body’s hyper relaxing”, Virgil told him.” But you’ll be alright. I promise.”

They let an eerie silence fall over them while they settled down, taking in what had just happened.

Finally Logan spoke: “Thank you, Virgil”.

“Yeah. Thank you a lot, Patton agreed. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without you”.

They took Roman’s ‘mhmhms’ as a gratitude as well.

“No prob”, Virgil responded.

“So, are you a shapeshifter too?”, Patton asked awkwardly. “You seem to know a lot about them”.

Virgil swallowed harshly. What did they expect him to say? Should he lie to them? 

He looked into his eyes, taking in the honesty and love behind them.

He couldn’t lie to him. Or any of them for that matter. They showed him immense trust for letting him take charge, not knowing what he was going to do or what the potion consisted of. He could’ve easily killed Roman if he wanted to. He figured they knew that too.

“No. I’m not.”

“A witch then?”

“No.”

“Then, what are you?”

“He’s a hunter.”

They turned their attention to Logan.

“Aren’t you? I saw the other stuff in your backpack. And the ring you’re wearing?”

He tried to keep his gaze steady on Virgil, repressing his nerves but his hands were betraying him, stroking his silk tie back and forth.

Roman tried to move his head to no avail.

“Yes. I’m a hunter. Or at least I used to be. I don’t go on hunts anymore these days. Not since I started college.”

“But you still keep your gear around”, Patton chided.

Virgil started to get anxious. Logan was practically burning holes into his skull.

“Hold habit. You never know who or what you may encounter.”

The all shared a nervous glance.

“I won’t harm any of you”, he quickly added.

“We know”, Logan replied.

“You do?” he was surprised to hear that.

“Of course. If you wished to do so you could have done so already. Instead you helped Roman. If your really had any ill will, you could have just ran away or used your knife”. He shuffled around nervously.  
“But that doesn’t mean we, or at least, I’m not weary. I have seen firsthand what hunters may do.”

Virgil didn’t want to press any further but he couldn’t resist. “You were hunted?”

“We all were, once”, Patton answered for him. He tugged at the sweater he kept around his neck.

“I’m sorry”

“Don’t be.” he smiled fondly. How could he be so gentle with him? “You’re not the one who did, right?”

“No, but that doesn’t make it any better.” He sat himself down before Roman on the floor. “I hunt only want needs to be. Monsters that hurt other people. Or other monsters that didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not like the other hunters.”

“I believe you, Virgil”, Roman spoke, his speech returning. He tried to get up but as far as movement went, his limbs couldn’t be bothered.

“Yeah?”

“Really”. He had a feeling Virgil wasn’t telling them everything, but what he did tell them sounded honest. He smiled reassuringly at him.

“Okay”, he sighed a sigh of relief. So, are all of you...um.”

“Oh no, we’re not all shapeshifters”, Patton sensed his question. “I’m a siren. And before you ask, no not in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ kind of way. I don’t make people fall in love with me.”

“I know, the OG kind of siren, the ones that tell you your greatest desire and make you do crazy things, like in the Odyssey.”

He was surprised he knew what he meant.“You know about that?”

“Of course I do. I’ve encountered ones that do make you fall in love with them, don’t get me wrong but they’re really nasty, but I’ve also met some like you. They were really nice. Helped me out when I was in trouble.”

Patton looked delighted at that, happy to learn that at least someone had a appreciation for classics.

“And you?” Virgil turned his head towards Logan.

Logan avoided his eyes. “I’m a werewolf”, he replied promptly.

“Well that explains a lot”.

Logan raised an eyebrow in surprise. “How come?”

“The way you always beat me in a race? How you run along the tracks without even breaking a sweat? Your anatomy? (He totally didn’t mean that in a gay way) How you literally sniffed at me when we met?”

Logan started to blush, revisiting the memory.

“The only reason I didn’t suspect you were one is because you didn’t react to my silver rings. Plus the glasses.”

“The glasses are what proved to be a hindrance?”

“Duh. You guys have impeccable senses. I’ve never met a werewolf with glasses before.”

He snorted. “I do possess enhanced senses. However, they aren’t at an optimum when I’m in my human form. It’s rare, but possible nonetheless.”

“Oh I thought you just liked them because they make you look smarter”, Roman said.

“Of course not. We’ve been friends for years, surely you must know my glasses are real.”

They started snickering. “What, did I say something wrong?”, Logan frowned.

“Look up the word joke in the dictionary, dude”, Roman grinned.

Virgil wiped a tear from his eye. He hadn’t laughed like that in a while. Soon however, he replaced his smile with a worried sulk.

“Do you want me to, leave now that you know or…”

“Of course not, silly! You’re part of the famILY now!” Patton nudged him.

“Agreed”, Logan conceded.

“Yeah I’d pat you on the back but my hands aren’t working”, Roman offered.

“You’ll be able to move soon enough”, he reassured him. 

The sour taste in his mouth wouldn’t leave though. He took a deep breath.

“If you guys want me around, then I’m incredibly grateful. But I gotta ask you guys something. How many people know about you?”

“Just you and our families obviously”, Roman replied.

“So no one other than them knows and you guys didn’t know about me till just now?”

“What are you implying, Virgil?”

He thought about what Thomas said. He had arranged this whole set up. He knew about them, knew what they were. So he must have checked them beforehand.Which meant he had a reason to do so. And if he did, there was something going on here, something he didn’t want him to worry about.  
If so, they were in as much danger as he was. 

So, Virgil decided he had to expand his party with three more members.

He thought about calling Thomas first but decided against it. If he wanted him to figure things out himself, he would do it with some help. But first he needed to fill them in.

“There’s something you need to know about me."


	3. Montage Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil gives a peek into his life as a hunter and holds a training session, getting some insight into his friends ‘natural abilities’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mentions of hunting, reference to some past abuse, mention of dismemberment and explosions

"Oh! My! Word!" Patton screamed.

"Patton for the love of-", Virgil's lungs were nearly as flat as pancakes, struggling to get away from the anaconda death hug that was Patton. "Could you please-"

"No! I'm making up for all those years you didn't have anybody to cuddle with!"

"Patton he already explained that he wasn't completely alo-"

"HE GREW UP AS A HUNTER AND HAD ZERO TO NO FRIENDS TO PLAY WITH OR CUDDLE WITH, I'LL BE DAMNED IF I DON'T TRY TO FILL THE HOLES THAT LEFT", he growled.

Virgil's skin was awfully close to matching his hair and shirt. "Appreciate it bud, but I really need air."

Reluctantly, Patton released him.

Virgil took a deep, deep breath. “Oooooh wow oxygen, my old friend.”

They had cleaned up the living room, covering up what happened as best as they could and promptly sat down on the couch, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

“I will hug you more”, he pouted, sitting cross legged with a pillow on his lap.

“I’m sure you will”, Virgil rubbed his neck. “Though it’s not necessary. I did have someone in my life. Besides, Thomas is a great hugger.”

The answer didn’t prove to be sufficient as Patton’s frown didn’t disappear.

“You were a _kid_ , Virgil. No one should have to deal with...all of this as a kid.”

"I'm sure he wouldn't have if he had a choice, right?" Logan tried to reassure him.

Virgil tried to look for an excuse to justify his childhood, the way he grew up, why he chose to hunt. The truth was honestly not that much better.

“It’s not like I wanted to spend the first years of my life learning how to use spells instead of the usual things kids learn or how to use a knife or how to paint pentagrams instead of rainbows. I would’ve liked to know what a normal life looks like, what it feels like to believe there isn’t anything under my bed or the monster in the closet isn’t real.”

He put his hands on Patton’s knees. “But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“If it weren’t for Thomas, I would’ve been dead. He didn’t have to teach me or even like me, but he did anyway. By hunting, I could repay him, prove my worth and honestly, saving people, hunting things wasn’t just a job, it was my life. And I liked doing good things for the world with him.”

“Then why did you quit?”

They looked over at Roman.

If you enjoyed it so much, why did you leave that life behind? Why go to college?"

“A very interesting question”, Logan agreed. “Why did you choose this life after you’ve seen what’s really out there?”

"Why do you study astrology and astronomy when you know that science doesn't even know about magic and the effect a full moon has on werewolves?" he countered.

Logan thought about it for a minute. “To understand celestial bodies and in particular, the moon, better. To know why it might have these effects. Maybe science could make things seem less strange. More…”

“Normal?”

Logan looked at him, realizing Virgil wanted the same thing he wanted. To make sense of what they were, what the world around them was. To feel like they belong.

"I suppose so."

Roman stretched his legs, or as far as he was able to, given the fact the effects of the potion were still lingering. “So, let me get this straight”.

"Good luck with that."

“Let me get this gay”, he corrected himself. “You’re saying you got out, to feel normal?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s likely. You spend your whole life training for one thing only and you just give that up? Just like that?”

Virgil didn’t like where he was going with this. “And some other reasons I don’t want to discuss.”

Patton held his hands and squeezed them lightly, letting him know he didn’t have to share anything if he didn’t want to. He didn’t need to be a siren to make Virgil feel calmer in an instant.

“I wanted out, okay?” he sighed. “I liked hunting, but when it’s just the two of you against the world, the world seems a whole lot bigger when the other one…”

He thought about the night he told Thomas he wanted to go to college, to start studying and stop hunting. Virgil had just turned 20. They had just returned from a nasty hunt and he had received a pretty tough beating from some demons. But the way Thomas handled it was just so ... effortless. Everything he did was effortless, graceful, amazing, downright perfect. He didn’t need anyone to back him up. He didn’t need Virgil around. He could work alone if he wanted to.

“Thomas didn’t need me anymore. Not sure if he ever did. I was grateful, don’t get me wrong but I felt like I was...Getting in his way.”

“So you ducked out”, Roman said.

“I didn’t duck out!”, Virgil snapped. “I didn’t want to be the reason he got killed!” he felt his eyes starting to water.

Roman shifted and lifted his hands in a pleading manner. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry if I pushed you too far.”

Virgil pushed his tears back and leaned into the cushions. “I didn’t duck out. Not completely. I still do research for Thomas, find cases for him, help him with spells and where to find certain ingredients. Occasionally I’ll assist him when it’s a two-man job. But he understands my choice and he doesn’t resent me for it.”

“He sounds like a really great guy”, Roman lauded him.

“He is”, Virgil smiled. “Which makes this even harder for me.”

“What is?" Patton asked.

“When I got here, I didn’t actually ‘exist’. My name’s in the system in terms of keeping up appearances thanks to a deal I made with a witch. I’ve spent the previous years like a ghost. I went to classes and did projects, but I kept to myself, had a room of my own without anyone asking a question or batting an eye. It’s thanks to that I can still go on a hunt or two if needed and study for a diploma. Until this year when I met you.”

"Don't tell me you regret it now?" Patton mumbled quietly.

“Of course not! You’re my friends”, the words left him so easily now. They felt good, felt right and just.

“But the thing is, the only reason why I met you guys in the first place is because Thomas wanted me to.”

"He did? Why? How?" Logan inquired.

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. He arranged for me to be your new roommate and he knew you guys weren’t human”, he admitted. "He said it was safer."

This fell uneasy upon his friends who shared some worried glances.

“He knew we were...But if he knew then that means others could’ve figured it out too...And that means we could’ve been...Or our families…”, Logan sputtered.

"We could've been hunted. Again." Patton started to panic.

“Hey no, don’t think like that”, he rushed over to his side. “You’re all fine now, you’re okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. Even if I didn’t know what you guys were, I wouldn't have let anyone hunt you on my watch.”

He let Patton lean against his chest as he let out a few cries and sobs, putting a hand through his hair.

"Why would he do that?" Roman asked rather angrily. “If he’s as kind as you are, why would he risk your life or ours?”

“I don’t think he was trying to”, Logan finally spoke after collecting his thoughts. “I think he knew we wouldn’t be a threat to Virgil.”

“Oh, I can be a threat alright”, Roman tried to strike a daring pose only to fall off the couch. Damn his legs still weren’t working.

Virgil pulled him back onto the couch. “What do you mean?”

“Well, since he has obviously...Done research on us he must have known what we are, our relationship, our mannerisms etc. If so, then he must have concluded that we wouldn’t try to attack you and therefore didn’t pose a threat. In the event that you would discover our true nature, you would be able to handle the situation, point proven by how you helped Roman. Of course, he’d know you wouldn’t hurt us either”, he continued his explanation.

“Whatever reason he had to do what he did, it was in an attempt to protect you with a minimal risk for humans, not wanting to leave you to fend for yourself. Assuming that that reason has to do with a supernatural occurrence, surrounding yourself with us would prove beneficial in that we would be able to defend ourselves and you wouldn't have to explain yourself to anyone not informed about the supernatural world, given the fact that humans don’t tend to react that well to knowing we exist.”

“Get on with it calculator watch”, Roman groaned.

Logan sighed. “Thomas probably wanted us to stick together because he thinks Virgil is in danger and we’re his best defense.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. If he wanted me safe, he would’ve told me to get away from here and find him and he definitely wouldn’t want to risk you guys getting hurt either. There must me something else going on”, Virgil countered.

"Well what other information did he give you?"

“He said he found something big, something that would put me at risk because of it. He wanted me to stick close to you guys and not go somewhere.”  
“Where? “Roman asked. 

“Wolf”, Patton whispered.

“Now is not the time for word association games. Continue Virgil.”

“I don’t know. He didn’t finish his sentence.”

“Intriguing. It seems like he tried to prevent you from leaving this town”, Logan speculated.

“If so, then it means there’s something here he wants me to investigate. If there wasn’t then he would’ve told me nothing was wrong and just went on with it and if there is, he doesn’t want me to do it alone otherwise he could’ve just asked me to do so and have me keep my old room.”

“So, we’re basically just your back up?” Patton asked.

“I don’t think you’re ‘just back up’” Virgil said. “I think he wanted me to live a normal life as long as I could and whatever this is, he knows it’ll put an end to that. Maybe he wants others to have a chance to keep their normal lives as well.”

They pondered over that for a while before Roman raised his hand triumphantly. 

“Well then he has chosen the best possible knights for this quest! If he honestly thinks us working together will stop evil, then let us go forward!”

"You don't have to be", Virgil quickly made Roman lower his arms. "I'm still the hunter here. If he wanted me around you guys for mutual protection that's fine, but I'm not taking you with me on a hunt."

“This thing might affect all of us, be dangerous for every student if we don’t do anything.” Patton chided.

“Judging from what you told us about how Thomas reacted and how he’s obviously able to hunt well on his own, these aren’t just rugged seas you’re sailing on. This isn’t something you should do on your own.” He leaned in to wrap his arms around him and Roman.

“Agreed”, Logan set himself on the other end. “We might not be hunters or the best of our breeds. But we do care about each other and we won’t let you dive into something that could be dangerous for all of us.”

“There’s no way I can talk you guys out of this?”

“Nope”, they answered simultaneously.

“Then I guess I’ll have to give you a crash course in hunting”, Virgil sighed as he let his friends in on a hug, not bothered to stay there till they fell asleep.

Something in the way they trusted him made him feel safe, wanted. These guys were willing to risk their lives for something he didn’t even understand. He could have this all wrong, maybe there wasn’t anything to worry about, maybe there was. He’s saved the world before so whatever this is shouldn’t be that hard, shouldn't have to involve them. They should be fine. They would be. He’d make sure they would be.

 _‘Are you sure?’_  
Virgil glanced around, his friends still laying besides him on the couch. 

There was no one there, just him and his roommates. He tried to calm himself down. ‘Just my nerves’, he thought.

Still, he couldn’t get the voice to leave his head, warning him this was only the beginning.

\------------------------

“Come on, it’s just a little running!”

Roman was panting, trying to keep up with Logan as he passed him yet a third time already.

“Easy-”, he huffed, “For you to say! You’re a werewolf damn it.”

Logan slowed down his pace. “True, but I’m not even in my full form, and yet I still prove to be superior.”  
He had ventured through the woods so often; he didn’t even need to see the trees ahead of him.

“Doesn’t mean you have to rub it in, Specs!” Virgil yelled a couple of feet behind Roman. He didn’t try to make an effort to keep up with him. Experience had taught him he couldn’t outrun a werewolf, fully transformed or not.

Logan scoffed and resumed his trajectory, leading the others to a clearing in the forest. Whenever he needed to let out some steam, to test his abilities, he came here. He would run as far as his feet, or occasionally paws, would carry him and far too often the woods would prove to be too small to contain him.  
However it had been a way out for him, a place where he could let out his wild side, a safe haven to let his claws run along something without having to worry about them hurting anyone, though if you asked a wood nymph, they’d tell you otherwise.

So, when Virgil was looking for a place to train them, he offered his hide away immediately. 

He waited for the others to arrive at the clearing, tapping his foot with an impatient rhythm. Being back here so soon made him eager to explore his territory again.

Finally, his friends joined him, Roman a bit more out of breath than he had hoped.

“So”, Logan began, “What is your plan?”

“My plan”, Virgil swung his backpack from his shoulders, “is to see what you guys are made of.” He took out a notepad, a pen, and a few ribbons.

“By making bow ties?” Roman gestured towards the ribbons.

Virgil stared at him with raised eyebrows, annoyance spread across his face.

“By playing a game, Princey. But first, I want to hear from you guys what you think your strong suit and flaws are.” He sat down and clicked his pen.

“Alright, firstly, Logan. Tell me more about yourself”, he said, mimicking the way a psychiatrist might hold his pen and pad.

“Well”, Logan adjusted his glasses, “I possess the same capabilities every werewolf has: enhanced strength and speed, impeccable senses, save for my eyesight when in human form, a higher stamina and endurance.”

“An impeccable ego”, Roman joked before Patton nudged him disapprovingly.

Logan continued without paying much attention to his comment. “Furthermore, I also have the same weaknesses as your average werewolf: silver, decapitation and any extreme injuries.”

“Such as?” Patton asked.

“Having your heart ripped out, major slicing and dicing, explosions, being burned alive, drowning etc.”, Virgil answered as he dotted down the information given by Logan.

“Right”, Patton muttered, awkwardly bouncing on his feet by how normal that sounded for him to say that.

Virgil flipped a page of his notepad. “Are you turned or a pure blood?”

“Pure blood”, he replied. “My great- grandfather got turned by my great- grandmother.”

“Interesting. I haven’t had a run in with a pure blood in a while.”

“Why does that matter?” Roman wondered aloud.

“Because that means he can transform whenever he wants to and is barely affected by the full moon and also has a higher tolerance to silver”, Virgil explained. “That’s why he didn’t react to my ring the way you did.”

“Affirmative”, Logan added. “Though I have had some moments where I had to...Restrain myself a bit more.”

Roman giggled. “You’re totally not referring to that one time when we were at that marathon a few years back and you ran after his really cute guy.”

“Falsehood!” he shot back, visibly flustered by that remark.

Virgil chuckled as he definitely did not put that down. “I’m guessing you have a pretty tight pack then. What’s your rank?”

“Rank?” Logan looked puzzled.

“Yeah, what’s your place in the hierarchy?” he clarified.

“I don’t have a rank. No one in my pack does. Sure, my parents call the shots, as they say, but then again, I am their only child.”

“You’re just a pack of three?”

“No of course not. I have plenty of cousins. My mother is the eldest of our pack, which is why she, and my father, are in charge. Her brothers and sisters all have multiple children but they’re all a couple of years older than I am.”

“A matriarchy”, Virgil hummed. “That’s pretty rare”.  
So rare that even he hadn’t had the pleasure or displeasure of meeting a pack like that. He had heard about it, and from what he learned from it was that those packs had a higher survival rate as they were better at keeping a low profile, behaving more docile than packs lead by alpha males. The other reason why they weren’t that common was that female werewolves didn’t get that many chances to lead a pack, let alone form one on their own.

“Alright then”, he finished his notes from Logan and started a fresh page for Patton.

“Next one up, Patton.”

He jumped a bit and promptly placed himself before Virgil. “Ask away kiddo!”

“So, I know you’re the original kind of siren, meaning you can convince people to do your bidding by luring them with their greatest desires. However, you were also able to control Roman by just singing to him. How’s that work?”

Patton excitement subdued greatly, his smile a little too forced. Logan put his hand on his shoulder and Roman shuffled closer as well.  
“It’s complicated”, he replied.

Virgil lowered his pen. “I need to know what you’re capable of, Patton. But I won’t pressure you to share anything you’re not comfortable with. I don’t have to know how you do it.”

He tugged at his sleeves for a few minutes before he answered. “My mom was a siren. Like the ones that Odysseus and his crew encountered. She even met him.”

“Your mom met Odysseus?”, Virgil let his jaw drop.

“Well not face to face of course but yeah, she and her sisters showed him his greatest desires and such.”

“His deepest, darkest desires”, Roman added, doing an uncanny impression of Tom Ellis.

“Anyway”, Patton resumed, “my ability to tell what people desire most comes from her. My ability to...make people do things I want, however”, he sighed while averting Virgil’s eyes.

“I got that from my dad. He, uh, he was human. Half human, actually. Son of Aphrodite. Could charm his way out of everything”, he managed to let out half a laugh. “Charmspeak will unarm anyone.”  
“Made my mom fall for him, which was quite an accomplishment. But she wasn’t enough for him. Always wanted more. He wanted more than make people drop their guard. He wanted them to obey his every word. And when he discovered I could use his charmspeak combined with my mom’s powers…”

He shuddered, his fingers interlocking with Logan’s. “Let’s just say I don’t like to use them. Unless I don’t have any other choice, I’d rather not make people do things they don’t want to.”

Virgil decided he didn’t need to write that down. “Hey Pat?”

“Hmm?”

“That was really brave of you, to tell me that. I appreciate it. If you don’t want to use them, then nobody’s going to expect that from you. But that does mean you’ll have to protect yourself the hunter way, okay?”

“Okay”, his voice was soft. 

“Anything else I need to know?” he gave Patton a tender smile.

“No, not really. Oh, maybe my weaknesses?” he replied. “Bronze daggers to the trick like silver does for a werewolf.”

“Or shapeshifters”, Roman added.

“Right. Well I guess with that we can end with you anyway Roman.”

“Finally!” he shot up and posed next to Patton.

“So”, Virgil clicked his pen a few times, “what are some things I need to know beside the facts that you don’t fully shapeshift into other people, which caused your maturing phase from yesterday to be so risky given the fact that your body isn’t used to such alterations and that you have essentially the same skill set and weakness as Logan although you’re clearly weaker than him?”

“Way to steal my thunder, Hot Topic”, he growled.

“I’m not wrong, am I?”

“No, you’re not”, he admitted. “Though I would like to add that one, I have mastered the art of mimicking people’s voices though I am a great singer by nature. Two, I have done some major shifting but not that often and three, I have my reasons to not do so.”

“You have?” Virgil asked curiously.

“Of course I have my reasons!”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “I meant you have done some major shifting?”

“As a kid I used to do it a lot more.” He rubbed his neck and smirked, thinking about at all the times he got in trouble because of it. “But I stopped when the hunters came.”

“The hunters?” he felt uneasy talking about it. 

“Yeah growing up I bounced around a lot of orphanages. Stopped shapeshifting that much when some hunters were investigating the last one, I was in. They weren’t there for me, but they figured they might get rid of me as well while they were there anyway”.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Roman”, Virgil apologized.

“Nah don’t be. I’m alright”, he sighed. “Kind of miss it though. There was this thing I used to do with…”, his voice trailed off. “Never mind.”

“What was it?” Patton asked, bursting with curiosity.

“I never told you guys?”

“You certainly haven’t mentioned anything related to your childhood in regard to this topic”, Logan replied.

“Well, it’s um, it’s really silly, actually”, he mumbled.

“Roman, I’ve been raised by a guy who insisted on adding sprinkles to my ice cream after every successful hunt. Whatever it is, I can assure you, we won’t laugh or anything.”

Patton didn’t even get a chance to open his mouth before Virgil already answered his question. “No we’re not getting ice cream.”

He eyed him like a puppy who just got kicked in the face.

“Maaaaaaybe we can”, he succumbed to his pleading eyes. 

Patton let out a small victory cry before they refocused their attention on Roman.

“Okay so um. I liked to…” he mumbled.

“What was that?”

“I liked to…Grow wings and fly like an angel okay?” he blurted out, blushing as he did so.

“You had wings?!” Patton was practically ricocheting off the ground. “That’s not silly that’s awesome! Can you still grow them now? What did they look like?”

“I haven’t tried to in a while”, he responded. “Didn’t feel like it was safe to do so.”

“Feel free to do so now if you want”, Logan assured him. “I can guarantee you there won’t be a single soul here that will harm you. I’ve found it quite exhilarating to let it go once in a while.”

“I agree with Lo”, Virgil said. “Go wild, dude.”

Roman beamed with excitement when they offered him this opportunity. He took of his red leather jacket and relaxed his muscles, eyes closed and concentrating on the shape he wanted to assume. He imagined a pair of wings sprouting from between his shoulder blades, curving along his body and casting shadows on the forest floor. He envisioned their feathers brushing the leaves around him, delicate yet strong.

When he opened his eyes again his friends were awestruck, mouths ajar.

“What? Did I do it wrong? Forgive me if I didn’t get it right the first try, it has been a couple of years after all.”

Virgil was the one who spoke first, cheeks matching the iridescent plumage Roman was sporting now. “You. Your wings...Wow…”

He had seen wings before, hell he had seen angels plenty of times, but they never looked like Roman’s. Angel wings were magnificent of course, but they screamed divinity. His were regal, bold and majestic.

Roman straightened his back, noticing his wings now. He never thought they’d come to him so naturally. He never expected them to fit so well now that he was older.

He chuckled and then that chuckle evolved into downright glee as he spread his wings. He ran his fingers through the crimson feathers and before he had realized it, he was already up in the air.  
How he missed being able to do this, missed feeling the clouds wet his skin, missed hearing the air gush beside him, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he dived towards the ground, sending a tsunami of leaves over his friends as he did so.

Why did he ever stop doing this? This was wonderful, invigorating, mind blowing and everything in between.  
He rose even higher, his white shirt catching the wind from his wings, sending chills down his spine. He swirled around, his hand reaching for someone that wasn’t there. 

He remembered why he didn’t do this anymore. The thrill that had seized his body before was slipping away now. He felt hollow as he glided back towards the clearing, tucking away his wings before he even touched the ground. Nonetheless he put on a smile.

“That was something!”, he exclaimed.

“Understatement of the year”, Patton grinned. Logan nodded in agreement.

“Hmm”, Virgil managed to get out. He had to clear his throat a few times before he was able to say anything else. “So now that’s sorted, how about I test your survival skills?”

“I don’t think I have to prove anything”, Roman chuckled. “I could take you all on.”

“That’s highly unlikely.” Logan contradicted him.

“Logan’s right”, Virgil said.

“I am far more superior than all of you”.

“And the moment’s gone”, Virgil sighed. “But I’ll give all of you a chance to prove it!”

They looked at him in confusion. “How’s that?”

“That’s what the ribbons are for”, he tied a ribbon around their waists.

“The game is simple: you three have a ribbon. I don’t. If I manage to get all of your ribbons, I win. I you catch me before I do so, you win.”

“Is that all?”, Logan laughed. “That isn’t much of a challenge. May I remind you I am an apex predator?”

“Yeah I don’t think that’s fair kiddo. You’re one unarmed guy against the three of us.”

“Who said I was unarmed?”, a sly grin spread across his face before he disappeared into the forest. He was gone in an instant.

“How the hell did he do that?” Roman gasped.

“You better start doing something!” Virgil’s voice echoed form behind the trees.

“Oh please, you could never outrun me”, Logan scoffed.

“I don’t have to”, he heard his voice before he even registered the fact that his legs were trapped: thick vines were twirling around his ankles, sending him towards the ground.

Virgil knelt beside him, untying the indigo ribbon.

“What the absolute-”

“One down, two to go!”, and he was off again.

Needless to say, Virgil won the game without even breaking a sweat.

Patton didn’t try to do anything as Virgil swooped down to tackle him and get his baby blue ribbon.

Roman decided he wasn’t going to let him win that easily and put up a decent fight. He snarled and chased after Virgil to his best effort, but he just slipped into the shadows every time he thought he got him.

It wasn’t until fifteen minutes had passed that he realized Virgil had already taken his red ribbon and was just messing with him.  
The following days Virgil gave them some basic defense mechanisms and taught them how to avoid most of the traps hunters used, though he still liked to rub it in how easily he could take them down.

“We get it, you’re a great hunter, oh mighty Virgil Sanders!”

He tried to reach Thomas a few times too, but he never got a reply. As the nights progressed without hearing from him, he grew even more worried. It had been a month since they had last spoken. He started to get even less sleep and whenever he did, he was plagued by the same nightmare: he was trapped, darkness all around him and he couldn’t move. 

He felt cold and his breath was hitching. He could make out some vague figures here and there and he realized they were trees. Someone was calling for him, but he couldn’t make out who it was, waking up in his room before he could process it further.

This night the dream was even more vivid. He could feel his hairs standing right up and his heart racing. He felt the wind blowing in his face before he saw his breath before him, and he heard the leaves crunching underneath his shoes. 

There were more voices now, and they were yelling, screaming his name. Everything was spinning, blurring before his eyes. He tried to shut it out, firmly pressing his eyelids together, hoping that when he opened them again, he’d be in his bed.

This time however, he didn’t wake up in his room.


	4. Get in babes we’re going hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan, Patton and Roman will put their skills to the test as they try to save Virgil from an all too real nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Knives and daggers, someone gets stabbed and scratched in the face by some claws, mentions of ripping someone’s head of and biting them in two, allusions to past abuse. If you notice something else please let me know

Roman woke up to a loud, jarring noise, startling him so much he nearly fell out of his bed, tangled in his sheets. He grasped around, trying to get away from the clutter of linen. Who dared interrupt his beauty sleep?

Finally, he managed to free himself and begrudgingly made his way into the commons, trying to find the source of the noise. To his amusement, both Logan and Patton were there as well. If he wasn’t going to get a peaceful night, then neither would they it seemed.

He walked over to them, red silk booty shorts shimmering in the faint moonlight. 

“Could someone please tell me what that was?” he asked.

Patton was still rubbing his eyes, glasses askew. “I was going to ask you the same question, kiddo.”

Roman huffed, flipping his hand through his bed hair. “Well, how ‘bout you, Microsoft Nerd?”

Logan groaned, clearly showing that he didn’t know what it was either. He hated his sleep schedule being interrupted just like Roman did, however for reasons not relating to ‘a beauty sleep’ (Really Roman, that’s just an excuse to sleep in) but because it meddled with his circadian rhythm. 

“I suggest we could-”, he was interrupted by another even louder crash.

“What the heck was that?” Patton shrieked.

“It came from Virgil’s room”, Logan noted. “Maybe we should check with him?”

“I swear if this is another surprise attack I am going to kill him”, Roman grumbled. He knocked rather loudly on Virgil’s door. “Virgil, what are you doing? It’s the middle of the night!”

His knocking was answered by something being thrown against the door. 

“Um, rude much?” Roman scoffed. “I’ve had it, mister dark and broody, I’m coming in.”

He nearly fell over the mess that cluttered the floor before him: the mattress was halfway on the floor, books were strewn all over the place with papers flying everywhere and numerous vials and flasks were laying in the corners. Amidst the wreckage, was a frantic Virgil practically vaulting around the darkened room.

They had seen him anxious before, panicked on a rare occasion even, but this was something new. His movements were quick and hectic as if his body was being pulled everywhere at once, panting as he went.

Before Roman could even ask him what was going on, Virgil snapped his head up and made way for the open window, leaping through it like he’d done it many times before, leaving his friends in shock.

Logan was the first to respond: “That was quite uncharacteristic of him.”

“No shit, Sherlock”, Roman replied. “We better get changed”, he hurled past them to get some clothes from his room.

“Changed?” Patton called after him.

Roman, already in sweatpants and a sweater, answered: “Duh, or are you guys gonna chase after him in your boxers?”

—————-

Tracking Virgil down wasn’t that hard. After all, they got a full on werewolf chasing him now, Logan trailing ahead to track him. Still, he was a hard one to follow. He had beaten them in almost everything this week despite not having any powers. If he really wanted to get away from them, he could. But something was off, like he wasn’t running from them at all.

“Do you think he’s alright?” Patton asked, bravely manning the flashlight, though the tone in his voice suggested otherwise.

He and Roman shared a few worried glances. “He’ll be fine, Pat. I’m sure he’s just overreacting to something”, Roman assured him. “I did manage to sneak up to him yesterday, maybe he can’t stand the thought of me beating him for once”.

Patton let a faint smile paint his lips. He’d grabbed a cat themed hoodie and in the dark of the night, with the only source of light in his hands, he looked like a spooked cat himself.

“Yeah you nearly got him.”

“Oh please, he was right there in my grasp! I could have won!”

“If you weren’t so hesitant when you were face to face with him”, Patton let out a small giggle.

If he had shone his light a bit more at Roman, he would’ve seen a pink flush setting on his face.

“Wh-what are you implying?”

“Oh you mean you don’t enjoy it when your hand to hand combat seems to always end with him holding you just a tad closer than he holds me or Logan?”

“He does not-”

“You’re right maybe it’s just because you’re scared of him”, he teased.

“I am not scared!” he lout out, voice a little higher than he wanted.

“No? Then why haven’t you beat him yet? I mean Logan was able to tackle him a few times.”

“I could have! I mean, I could’ve shapeshifted into an anaconda and wrap around him for a change!”

“Wrap around him huh? You can hug him without turning into a snake, you know?”

“I know I can!”

The small smile from before spread into a wide grin: “Do you now?”

Roman gasped, rubbing his neck nervously. “I, um, that’s not what I meant”, glancing back at his comrade.

“I could beat Virgil anytime I want”, desperately turning his focus on that part of their conversation.

Patton sensed a ‘but’ coming.

“If I wanted to use my powers, that is.”

“What do you mean? You use them every time we rehearse?” he chided, brushing away some branches as they kept moving.

“I meant if I used them like …” he sighed.

Patton placed a hand on his shoulder. “Kiddo, you don’t have to keep things a secret from us, you know that right?”

“I know, I know it’s just, this whole thing makes me feel…useless. I know I would be a better asset if I got over it.”

Patton hung his arm around him, pulling him closely. “I don’t know why you don’t use your powers like other shapeshifters do, and honestly, I never needed to know before nor do I need to know now if you don’t want to talk about that. But just because you do things differently doesn’t mean you’re useless, Roman. I’ve known you for so long, you’re anything but. You’re brave, passionate and above all a fighter. And you should never think your feelings as something to brush off. You and your emotions are valid.”

Roman clasped his hands over Patton’s and thought about how he felt when he let his wings come back to him. He really missed the thrill of it, the adrenaline whenever he shapeshifted into someone or something else.

“I want to, you know.”

“Want what?”

“Use my powers like the others. I’m just so scared something might go wrong. Like last time.”

“Last time?”

He took a deep breath, exhaling through his mouth as he went. He needed to get this off his chest. Better to do so now.

“You remember I told you about the hunters?”

“Yes?”

“And how they weren’t there for me?”

“Where are you going with this, kiddo?” he didn’t like the sound of this.

“The hunters were searching for a shapeshifter.”

Patton gulped but managed to keep his concern under control. “But that wasn’t you, right?”

“Sort of. They were looking for one that had wreaked havoc in town. I may have been involved in that.”

“Roman Prince!”

“It’s not what you think!” he quickly assured him, “Back then I used to shapeshift a lot more. Mostly people, and of course, the wings but something went wrong. I tried to shift into something a lot more complex, something I wasn’t ready for. I got hurt and I was starting to attract a crowd.”

“Why would you do that?” he let out a cry.

“To prove that I could. Anyway, another shifter decided the best course of action was to draw attention to him instead and that’s who the hunters were after”, he noticed how his voice was breaking, becoming even more fragile as he continued his story.

“H-he got hurt because of it. Because of me. We fought after that too, even though he’s alright now. So I decided I would never shapeshift into anything that might cause something like that to happen ever again.”

Patton pulled him even closer, trying his best to comfort him. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Roman.”

“Tell that to my-“ he got cut off, bumping into Logan who had stopped a few feet before them.

He looked back at them, yellow eyes staring at his friends. He ushered then to come closer, growling as they did so.

“Human talk Nerdy Wolverine”, Roman muttered.

Logan rolled his eyes before his fangs retracted and his nails returned to their normal length.

“I said, I found him. He’s nearing the rock formation we used for target practice”, pointing at Virgil down the hill.

Patton was about to run towards him before he was pulled back by Logan. “Hey!” he swatted at his hands, “What was that for?”

“Look”, he whispered, gesturing at Virgil.

Virgil had stopped right before the rocks, he was trying to move forward but seemed to be fixed in place. He seemed so lost, pressing his hands to his head like a scared little kid.

“What is he doing?” Roman wondered. “Shouldn’t we do something?”

“Perhaps he has been sleepwalking. If that is the case, waking him up might prove dangerous.”

“But what if he’s not?”, Patton was trembling now. “We can’t just do nothing, he might harm himself!”

He jumped out from behind the trees, calling out for him.

“Patton wait!” Logan tried to grab him once more. “We don’t know what-”, he stopped himself, the corners of his mouth curling up into a snarl.

“Okay, okay, no need to snarl at me!” he yelped.

“I don’t think that’s meant for you, Padre”, Roman stared over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. 

Patton turned around to see a dark figure rising from the shadows coming up behind Virgil.

If he wasn’t already halfway before, he was definitely closing the distance between him and his kiddo now.

——————–

Virgil glanced around him. He had really hoped this was all a dream. Unfortunately he was actually in a forest. In his shorts. How he had managed to put on shoes and his hoodie while asleep he didn’t know, but he cursed at himself for not having thought about putting pants on as well.

“Well babe, it sure took you long enough!”

He turned around and processed what was going on in front of him. A guy with a leather jacket and sunglasses (sunglasses, at night?) was standing before him holding a cup of coffee? 

“Okay I am definitely still dreaming”, he tried to convince himself.

“Oh I might be a dream, babe, but you’re not dreaming”, they grinned, taking a sip from their drink. “You made me work a lot harder than necessary!”

Virgil covered his face, trying to work out what the hell they were talking about. 

“Care to explain how?” he managed to get out.

“Well if you weren’t so busy with your boyfriends I could’ve taken you before! But no, you had to go and run around playing tag or whatever. So now, I have to lure you here and do all this extra work!” they lamented.

“Taken me? Like I would’ve let- hold up. Boyfriends? They- we’re just friends and roommates!”

_That is what is concerning you right now?_

__

__

_Shut up brain._

They lowered their shades, revealing their black eyes. “Sure, keep telling yourself that. Cause they’re not running down the hill to come save their damsel in distress right?”

“What?” Virgil spun his head around to see what the demon was insinuating, and there they were, or at least, he though they were. He managed to make out a figure in a cat hoodie who must have been Patton, before he slammed into him.

Logan and Roman were quick to follow.

“Virgil!” Patton latched onto him like koala. “Are you alright?”

He tried to persuade him into letting go, although him being there was actually rather soothing: “I’m fine, Pat. I’m okay.”

Logan examined him up and down, looking for any injuries. Not having found any, he turned his gaze on the shadowy figure. “And this is?” taking a protective stance.

“The name’s Remy”, they said bowing slightly. “Demon of the week, month and year!”

“Demon?” Patton whispered, his voice wavering.

“Hell yeah babe”, they smiled. 

Fear started to bubble in Virgil’s chest. Not because he was facing a demon, but because his friends were. His friends who had only gotten a crash course in hunting. Who had never met a demon before, let alone fought one. If they got hurt, he would never forgive himself.

He stepped forward, shielding his friends as best as he could. “What do you want from me?”

“All of you, honey”

Virgil looked perplexed. That wasn’t the usual request he normally gets.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Like I said, all of you. My boss needs you for something and wanted me to take you to him.”

“And you think I’m just going to come with you?”

Remy folded their glasses and tucked them in their shirt. “Of course not! I’ll admit, I’m not fond of doing this either, I’d rather go have a drink with a certain someone but, orders are orders! However if you did come without making a big drama out of it, it would be a lot easier.”

“Go to hell!” Virgil spat.

“Girl, no need to be like that, I will. But you’re coming with me”. Remy lunged forward, hands firmly pressed against his neck. “Peacefully or forced.”

“Like hell he is”, Logan swung a clawed hand at them, creating long gashes across his face. They loosened their grip, wincing at the pain in their face.

“Oh honey”, they hissed, “you should not have done that.”

Remy snapped their fingers and Virgil soon found himself surrounded by all sort of demons, eager to inflict the same kind of damage as Logan had done to their master.

“Let’s see how you like it.”

In a matter of seconds, claws and talons were slashing at his friends. Thank god they had advanced reflexes or they would’ve been sliced to pieces.

Patton tried to stay a safe distance away, just like he practiced with Virgil. He tried using his abilities but quickly found out that they missed their intended effect on demons and retreated behind his friends.

Roman dodged most of their blows, making sure that when they did land, at least they missed Patton. Even though he had never dealt with demons before, he knew they moved like humans did. Which meant they were susceptible to the same rules humans were in terms of needing feet to stand. Knocking them off of them, was the easy part. Keeping them down, not so much.

Logan managed to take some of them out, sparing no expense on every bit in his arsenal: if he couldn’t make do with his own set of claws, his fangs were sure to make up for it. Seeing him so feral was surreal, Virgil almost forgot Remy still had their hand on his throat.

He tried to break free, swinging his elbow over Remy’s arm, pulling it down as to release him from their grip. As soon as he had regained his freedom, he pulled out the knife from his pocket, boldly holding it between the two of them, fist clenched in a fighting position.

Remy let out a sharp cackle, flinging their head backwards: “You’re going to attack me with a pocket knife?”

“Scared you’re no match for it?”, he masked the nervousness in his voice.

They positioned themselves before him, gashes in their face already healed. “Darling, you really want to go huh?”

They conjured a set of daggers of their own.

Virgil put up a brave face: “Got some toothpicks of your own?”

They just grinned at that. “Come and get some, pretty boy.”

Remy hated to admit it, but Virgil wasn’t one to take down in one swing. They both blocked and parried each other effortlessly. If they wanted to win, they needed to gain more ground, some advantage, a higher ground, a-

They glanced back at the other three fighting off his henchmen. A distraction.

Remy let their guard down, creating an opening for Virgil. As he lunged towards them, they swiftly dodged him, throwing one of their daggers at his friends.

Virgil watched the blade pass him, making its way towards Roman.

In a rapid act that would make Harley Quinn jealous, he leaped in front of him, throwing Roman to the ground with him.

“Oh the boss is not going to like that”, Remy complained.

Roman let out a huff as he fell down with Virgil on top of him. “Ow”

“You alright, Virge?”

“I-I’m-”, he groaned, rolling over on his back.

Patton yelled so loudly it startled the demons closing in on them.

Virgil put his hand over his body, fingers tracing the dagger sticking to his lower abdomen like a needle on a pin cushion.

They rushed to his side, not thinking twice about the danger around them.

“Well, that ain’t the outcome I wanted but hey, it worked!” Remy said triumphantly, closing the four men in. “The boss said he needed you alive, not unharmed. Be sure to keep the dagger in or you’ll bleed out. On the other hand that would get you to hell faster!” they let out a chuckle.

“What makes you think he’d go to hell? Virgil is the sweetest, most loyal and cunning person to ever walk this earth!” Patton scolded.

“Oh babe, if only you knew. Now”, they moved their hands, urging the other demons to come closer, “play time’s over.”

As they reached for Virgil, Roman blocked their path, determined to protect him at all costs.

“Oh does the Prince want to be the hero, rescuing his damsel?”, they cooed.

He hated using his abilities to the fullest, but by god he wouldn’t let them take Virgil.

“Move even an inch closer, and I will rip your heart out.”

“Aww, that’s sweet but really”, they put a blade to his chest,” what can you do against me? The only one that could possibly lay a finger on me is down on the ground, isn’t that right, Virgey?”

Virgil muttered something under his breath.

“What was that? Can’t hear you!”

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus… “ he groaned.

“Babe, really, an exorcism, right in front of my coffee?” they tried to move towards him but Roman held a firm grip on their wrist, preventing them from coming any further.

Remy sighed heavily: “You know, I am getting real sick and tired of this game.”

They pushed the dagger up to Roman’s throat, creating a thin line of red.

Suddenly, a loud, shrill growl was heard, sending shiver down their spines.

“Pardon?” they said.

“Wasn’t me”, Roman admitted though he thought he recognized the sound.

A quick look at Logan and Patton confirmed that they too, weren’t the cause of it. Following their line of sight, however, Remy soon found out what was.

In a storm of green scales and leather wings, the demons surrounding them were thrown all around, dissipating into shadows as they fell like flies.

Remy staggered backwards, taking in the enormous reptile towering above them. It had torn though their backup like they were nothing but toys to break.

The scaled figure landed in front of them, letting out a deafening roar as it did so. “Now scram”, it said.

Remy reluctantly fell back into the shadows, already thinking of excuses for their boss about how they fled from a dragon.

The dragon turned around, letting its glowing red eyes fall on the remainders of this party.

“Is that a…”

“Dragon”, Patton finished his sentence.

Roman walked towards it, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Roman don’t-“, Virgil tried to stop him, wincing as he did so.

“I can’t believe it”, he muttered, “You absolute oaf!”

To be honest, that wasn’t what they expected him to say to the creature that could very well bite his head off.

“Oaf?” it growled.

“Yeah you oaf! Couldn’t you at least have bitten him in half?”

The others had a lot of feelings about this: fear, terror and adrenaline coursing through their veins, shock and bewilderment. But none of that conveyed how utterly baffled they were about how he just addressed the dragon as ‘oaf’ and downright complained to the thing that saved them.

To their surprise, the dragon let out a boisterous laugh.

“Oh so, now I can?”

The dragon’s scales started to move, its wings folding inwards, horns shrinking until they were roughly the size of their heads.

It shrunk, taking a more humanoid form until what was left of the dragon looked like an exact replica of Roman.

“Uh, Roman?”, Logan asked.

He didn’t even turn around to face him: “Yes?”

“What or who, is that?”

The former dragon walked over to the trio on the ground, bowing the same way Roman did whenever he finished a play, a wide grin played across his face showing rows of sharp teeth.

“Remus Prince, horrified to meet you.”


	5. Toss a coin to your witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m sitting in a pool of blood.”  
> “…Is it your blood?”  
> “Yeah, I think so.”  
> “Do you know where it’s coming from?”  
> “Probably the stab wound.”  
> “YOU’VE BEEN STABBED!?”  
> “Oh yeah definitely.”  
> In which, Virgil needs some assistance. Luckily, Remus knows a guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Blood, daggers, nothing too explicit but feel free to tell me if it is or if there are any other warnings I need to add.
> 
> Notes: So many kuddo’s already?? Thank you!!! I can’t even?? Why? How? THANK YOU AGAIN, have I already said thank you? I did my best at some prinxiety but I absolutely suck at writing fluffy scenes. I hope this chapter will be satisfying though.😊  
> You're always welcome to say hi on tumblr! @crazydemigod666
> 
> Special thanks to @perfectnightalpaca: my editor, proofreader and close friend, without whom I would never have had the courage to write this!

“You can’t just _go_ !” a voice screamed, thick with alcohol and speech slurring with every letter that rolled over their tongue.

“Watch me!”

Before an answer could be heard, Roman had already left the building, determined to never come back. He didn’t even spare the ‘home’, if you could call it that, a second glance.  
Maybe he should have been grateful they took him in, fed him, gave him shelter and clothes. After all, it was either them or the streets.  
Roman laughed at the thought. Maybe he should’ve left sooner. He could live on the streets. Remus had survived so far. True, his brother lived like a literal rat most of the times, god knows where he found food and _what_ kind of food but, he lived nonetheless. He even had time to spare to visit his twin although they didn’t always see eye to eye.

Maybe it would have spared him all the curses flung at him, the disgust that filled the air every time he returned from school, the beatings he received.  
Sure, he could take it. He could throw some punches back whenever he wanted and turn the tables at an instant. But what would he have accomplished? He _had_ needed them, endured it all, for one thing only: to save up as much money as he could and go to college. He needed the financial support until he could finally leave.

And today was that day.

He didn’t know where he was going yet, but his feet dragged him forward, the only way he could go now. He could ask some friends if he could crash at their place for a few days until he had things sorted out.  
But then he would have to explain what happened, what his plans were. The few friends he had wouldn’t understand and their parents would just go and call his foster parents. He would be back at square one. Not tonight.

Tonight, he would figure it out himself.

“So, you finally grew the balls to get out?”

Roman looked around, though he had no reason to be afraid. Well, to not be worried he was going to be killed, knowing what kind of shenanigans the owner of the voice would pull given the opportunity.

A small, black and white cat stretched itself over a bench across the street, eyes full of mischief as they stared at the boy with a red bag strapped across his shoulder.

“Finally have enough money”, Roman said, walking over to it. “Took me a while but I did it.”

The cat slowly morphed into the form of a boy, though his eyes were the same green feline ones from before. “I’m proud of you Ro”, he nudged his brother.

Roman gave him a thin smile. He hadn’t seen Remus in a while, their last meeting ending on a sour note, when they talked about the incident again.

“Remus?”

“Hmm?” he picked at his nails, sharp as needles.

“I’m sorry.”

He put down his backpack and leaned back into the hard wood, arms crossed over his legs.

“I haven’t been acting like a good brother and I owe you an apology. Even though you’re rude, vapid, annoying and-“

“You really don’t know how to form a good apology do you?”

“I’m getting to it!” he sighed. “I know you’re just trying to protect me and I’m not giving you enough credit for it, but I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

Remus made a gagging sound: “Oh my god can you get even more sappy?”

“I am trying to be a good brother!”

“You want an award?” Remus laughed.

Seeing Roman deflated, he looked for a better response. “Look, I’m not saying you’re immediately forgiven.”

His brother looked at him in anticipation.

“I guess, I understand. I’m not the easiest, I’ll admit, but I just want you to stand up for yourself. Stop being a doormat. Unless you’re thinking of trying to shapeshift into that, that would be an experiment!”

It wasn’t the best reply he could have given, but it made Roman chuckle, just a little bit.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Roman looked at his twin, a mirror image, were it not for the mustache Remus so desperately tried to maintain, even though it completely ruined their beautiful appearance in his opinion. It couldn’t hurt to ask.

“Could I stay with you? Just a couple of days till I sort things out?”

Remus couldn’t help but feel for him. He had offered so many times before to take him in, even though he didn’t really have a house. Having him accept this time, it stirred something in him. Not that he would let it on. He was a vicious beast, a foul creature that could kill anything with its bare hands, the nightmare children had, the monster under the bed and in the closet.  
A loving brother.

“Sure”, he grabbed Roman’s bag. “Any idea what you want to do in college?”

“I don’t know, I liked the idea of becoming a doctor. But I don’t have enough money to go to med school so I guess that’s a no go.”

“You, a doctor? Nah, that wouldn’t suit you anyway. What about something sciency?”

“Sciency? That’s not even a word.”

“You know what I mean Roman-lettuce. You always liked to do stuff like that when we were kids, so why not chemistry? Or chemical-engineering? Or bio-chemistry? You could be a crazy scientist and make things explode! Or maybe…”

The twins walked down the empty streets, only the stars above them serving as an audience to their play as they made their way towards a better future.

\------------------------------------

Virgil tried to keep still, careful not to stir the blade too much and muttered the incantation, exorcise Remy if he couldn’t fight them in person. Every breath he took burned his lungs, making the foreign presence in his body even more present.

He couldn’t even finish the first line when he heard something, a loud cry and then a big shadow looming over him.

He saw Roman walking over to it.

_Don’t do that-_

It hurt. It hurt too much, the blood trapped behind the sharpened tip, ready to escape.

But that thing was dangerous, he could tell that much, what was it, a dragon? Had he heard that right? Now it was gone, and he was starting to see double, two Roman’s staring at him.

Hold up, when did Roman grow a mustache?

“Roman”, the name left his mouth with pain, trying to call out for his friend.

“I’m here, Emo Nightmare. I’m fine, you’ll be al-“

He was sure Roman was still talking, soothing him and he could feel a faint brush of lips against his forehead before his voice was starting to die out.

“Hey now, stay awake Storm Cloud”, Roman tapped his face gently.

Virgil had a hard time focusing on his words. He didn’t want to fight the pain, he wanted it to be over with and go to sleep. Just sleep for forever.

“He’s losing consciousness”, he heard Logan say.

Surprisingly, he still had enough energy to say: “I’m trying to.”

_Even when you’re stabbed you can’t help but be sarcastic._

__

__

_Brain I am going to kick your ass if you don’t shut up._

He tried to remember what Thomas had taught him. Let the blade in until you’re sure you can stop the bleeding? Cauterize the wound? Something, something…his mind was getting foggy, memories slipping away with every second.

If they didn’t do anything soon, he would be dead no matter what. He could try…

He hovered a hand over his wound, concentrating on the gash and the metal inside, the edges burning before someone pulled his hands away.

“Don’t take it out”, Logan scolded.

“Wasn’t going to”, he groaned, having lost his focus. “But need to do something.”

“He’s right, or else he’s gonna be dead as a doornail. I know someone who can help”, Virgil heard the Roman clone say. What did he say his name was? Remy? No, that was the demon. Remus then?

“’m all for it. Leggo”, he made a move to sit up, instantly regretting it.

“You’re not going anywhere like this”, Roman pushed him back. “Can this person come here instead?”

“I don’t think that would be a problem. I’ll give ‘em a call”, he walked away and pulled a phone from his jacket.

“Alright, as for you”, he focused on Virgil again, “you need to take it easy.”

Virgil hummed in response.

“Thank you, by the way”, Roman added. “It should’ve been me lying on the ground, not you.”

“Like I would allow that.”

“Still, that was incredibly dumb. You do know all of us have advanced healing, right?”

Virgil knew that of course, but even when they did, he made a promise he wouldn’t let anyone hurt them.

“Roman’s right kiddo”, Patton squeezed his hand, afraid that if he let him go he would disappear.

“Why did you do that?” he sniffed.

“Promised you guys”, he muttered, glancing back at him. “You’re not getting hunted on my watch.”

Patton was about to protest when Remus returned.  
“He says he can come, but he’ll need some help with some supplies. You okay with being alone with him for a few minutes bro?”

“We can’t just leave them alone, what if the demons return?” Logan disagreed.

“Yeah, I’m not leaving them!” Patton backed him up.

“Guys”, they looked back at Roman, “I can handle it. The sooner you get everything, the sooner Virgil gets better. Staying here and wasting time won’t help.”

Reluctantly, Logan and Patton left his side. “If anything happens, and I mean anything, you call us, you hear me, Roman?” Patton raised his finger at him.

“I promise padre.”

Patton hugged him tightly and put a gentle hand through Virgil’s hair before he joined Remus and Logan.

Remus morphed into a dragon again and let the two of them on his back.

“Be careful you two”, Logan tried to sound stoic but he too emitted worry.

“We’ll try, Logan.”

“You better”, Remus agreed, “I don’t want to save your ass twice today.”

And with that, he flew off into the night, leaving Virgil and Roman alone on the forest floor. They watched the green figure turning into a spec before completely disappearing.  
For a while they didn’t say anything. It didn’t often happen that it was just the two of them. Usually Logan or Patton was there too. In fact, Virgil realized the only time the two of them were actually alone was when Roman walked into him singing along to ‘Thnks fr th mmrs’.

_“Oh I am so gonna tell the others.”_

_“If you tell a soul I will make sure nobody can find your body.”_

_“Such a waste of talent! You should sing with me sometimes.”_

_“Please, I might like Disney, but I refuse to sing any of their songs with you.”_

_“For shame, you’d make a radiant Belle.”_

_“I’m going to puke.”_

_“If that's the worst you got, better put your fingers back to the key”, he sang back._

_“You know Fall Out Boy?”_

_“Please, I might not look like an emo but I appreciate the classics nonetheless.”_

They hummed some songs in unison afterwards, but nothing more than that. He didn’t want to be alone with him for more than a few minutes. Every time they were, he would feel uneasy, like his heart was going to jump out of his chest and he had to make a run for it.

It got worse when he found Roman casually walking around in a tank top, or wearing the outfit for his newest play: a white suit with a red sash, black dress pants and tall leather boots.

Seeing Logan in the gym was one thing Virgil could barely handle, coming back home to Roman wearing that, was too much. Still he couldn’t help himself but get closer to him while they trained.

From roommate to friend to crush. Damn his feelings, they only knew each other for barely two months. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to fall for his flamboyant roommate.

“So”, Virgil tried to cut through the silence, “ you have a brother?”

Roman smirked. “ A really awesome brother. Don’t ever tell him I said that.”

“Seems like a fun dude.”

“Psh, his idea of fun is scaring people to death or biting people in half. The one time I want him to do it, he refuses to. Typical.”

“He did save your ass”, a finger darted towards the fading red line on his throat.

“I didn’t have any problem taking the demon on my own. I would’ve turned into a dragon myself.”

“Didn’t you say you don’t like doing that?”

“I don’t. But for the right people I would make an exception”, he smiled fondly at him.

“Appreciate it. Still, your brother kicked ass.”

Roman chuckled, grasping the hand touching his healing wound. “ Yeah he did.”

“Does he always come to the rescue like that?”

“Occasionally. Maybe if I were more like him he wouldn’t need to.”

He started pulling at his sleeves, taking off his sweater and folding it into a makeshift pillow.  
“Heads up”, he said, lifting Virgil’s head and putting his sweater underneath.

“You’re gonna be cold without it”, he protested.

Roman waved his remark aside, pulling a little closer to him. “I’m a shapeshifter. I can turn into whatever I want and keep both of us warm if need be.”

“You’d make a great dragon, Maleficent.”

He let out a chuckle. “You must be in an even worse state than we thought if you’re calling me names like that.”

“Alright then, Prince Underarm Stinks”, he saw Roman raising an eyebrow.

“That’s the best you’ve got?”

“I’m literally dying right now and you’re surprised my nicknames aren’t great?”

“Alright granted. You’re nicknames aren’t that bad though.”

He put his hand on Virgil’s forehead, stroking the sweaty hair out of his face.

“I kinda liked Princey. Not the most original one, but it has a nice ring to it.”

Virgil leaned in to his touch, the pain in his abdomen lessening the more he directed his attention to Roman.

“Suits you”, he whispered.

“You think of me as a prince?” he joked.

“You’re just like Prince Charming.”

“Handsome, incredibly attractive and charismatic?”

“ A clueless moron all of the time, who can’t even remember the face of his love without her shoe.”

Roman sputtered, offense taken greatly. “Excuse you, I would recognize the love of my life in whatever state they might be.”

“Really? So you’re not a clueless moron, then?”

 _I found you, didn’t I?_ He nearly spoke the words aloud. 

“I might not be the brightest, but I would know my royal counterpart with or without a glass slipper”, he stared into Virgil’s stormy grey eyes. He was struggling to keep them open, he noticed. He needed to keep him awake, at least till the others returned.

“Even though you think I’m an idiot, I gladly accept the role of a prince over any other part.”

“I didn’t say you were an idiot.”

“Virgil, you call me an idiot every morning.”

He carefully let out a laugh. “Okay, maybe I do. But you call me names every five minutes.”

“That’s how I show affection, Hot Topic.”

“Aww so you think I’m hot.” Virgil tried to write the blush that was creeping on his face off as a reaction to being stabbed, not to the fact that Roman looked genuinely flustered by his comment.

“Well I can’t say that you’re not.”

Oh. Oh crap.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I ?” He took Virgil’s sideway glance as a yes. “I’m a mess.”

“A hot mess.”

Roman’s cheeks started burning. “Oh no, don’t you dare turn this around.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You don’t get to compliment me!”

“What, just stating the obvious.”

“No. None of that. Screw it. Nope.”

“Oh my god Roman you’re a disaster.”

“First of all, I’m a disaster gay, so that’s my aesthetic. Second of all, you do not get to say I’m hot when I’ve just told you that you are gorgeous cause that is a clear breach of the ‘no compliments when delirious’ act."

“I don’t know what the hell you’ve just said, but I’m pretty sure you’ve never called me gorgeous.”

“Goodness gracious why”, he buried his face in his hands. “Why are you like this?”

Virgil grinned as he took his hands, stopping him from obscuring his face. If he was going to pass out, he wanted to see his face before he did so.

“Hey”, he shuffled a bit and Roman, understanding what he wanted to do, lifted his head onto his lap.

“How about when I survive this, and we figure out what happened, we go and do something together?”  
He coughed, his breathing becoming ever more shallow. “Something that doesn’t involve one of us getting injured.”

_You called him a disaster gay but you’re literally asking him out while you’re in his lap. With a knife stuck to your abdomen. Aren’t you the hypocrite?_

__

__

_For fuck’s sake I am going to have an excerebration I swear._

“I wouldn’t mind that”, he answered, warm hands gently cupping the side of his face. “Totally just as friends right?”

“Sure, no homo or anything”

The laughed at the joke, taking in each other’s company.

“Thank you”, Virgil eventually said.

“I didn’t do anything”, Roman continued to stroke his face.

“Yeah you did. You were patient with me. Trusted me.”

_You shared enthusiasm about my interest, showed me affection when you didn’t have to, tended to me when I couldn’t reach Thomas and had a panic attack. You’re calm and confident and I feel like I can take on the world with you. Whenever I see you, I feel this excitement in my chest, like electricity running through my veins, bursting at the seams._  
For once he wished his brain wouldn’t let the words bounce around his mind. 

“You care…about me.” 

There it was. That same feeling. Was he actually in love with him? Or was he just jumping to conclusions now that he had received a different kind of love and attention? ‘What if’s’ were running though his mind, assuming all different kinds of things. He had just met him, just become somewhat friends with him.

_I like you. A lot._

The words got lodged in his throat. He didn’t even know him that well. But the way he smiled, the way sunlight made his freckles come through, how ridiculously extravagant he was, how he could make the whole room stop what they were doing and turn heads towards him, the way he felt whenever he received a message from him, bubbly and excited and joyous and wonderful and everything in between…That wasn’t just because he was handsome and indeed attractive and charismatic. This was _more_ than that.

"Of course I do", his voice soft and caring. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Virgil made a move that would have been taken as shrugging. “I don’t know. I don’t know why any of you care. Besides, I tackled you the first time we met.”

Is it possible to cherish someone’s smile even more? Because Roman’s was filling him with joy in every limb, warm and earthy, nothing like what they show you in movies and more than any love song could convey.

“I guess that makes for a good story, no? I have to say, it left quite an impression.”

“Don’t make me feel even more guilty.”

“In a good way, J-Delightful. Perhaps you were a bit of an annoyance-“

“Likewise.”

“However”, he continued, ignoring the smirk on the purple clad's face, “ you have been a welcome presence. I enjoy our bantering, even though your taste in certain things like fashion-“

“Dude-“

“Are a bit questionable, you provide a new kind of energy to our group of friends. You’re straightforward and yet you consider what I have to say, even when you don’t agree with me. And maybe, I’ve grown fond of your little compliments, how rare they may be.”

Virgil didn’t know how to respond to that. No one was ever ‘fond’ of him, except maybe Thomas, but not like this. He didn’t even think about what Roman must have thought of him, if he felt anything for him. He edged closer, never taking his eyes off of him.  
"I-"

“Aww isn’t that just the sweetest thing ever?” someone called out above them.

Virgil cursed, shuffling to get away from them as he discovered who it was.

Remus made a soft landing to their left, letting his passengers off one by one.

“We have the supplies!” Patton called out, a bag with presumably bandages and stitching equipment in his hands.

“Great, great”, he muttered, pulling away further.

“Would you stop squirming?” Logan demanded. “You are going to cause even more damage like that.”

“Don’t care, I am not letting _him_ heal me.”

“Now, now Virgil. That is no way to treat a _friend_.”

Virgil groaned, as much as his lungs allowed it. “Of all people, it has to be you.”

“You know each other?” Roman asked.

“Know each other? Please, that’s a laugh and a half”, the man answering his question put a gloved hand on his shoulder. “We go way back, don’t we?”

Roman examined the figure before him: he wore a black three piece suit, the gloves matching his yellow dress shirt, though for now he held his jacket in his hands. The top buttons of his vest were undone, the bow tie around his neck slightly loose as if he had just returned from a gala. Though he looked way overdressed for this party, Roman couldn’t help but be impressed by his style and finesse.  
There was something off about his face though. He couldn’t properly focus on it, the cheekbones appearing sharp at one moment but after he had looked at his lips they looked different, like his face was constantly shifting. But the most unsettling part was his pair of mismatched eyes. One a dark green, the other a vibrant yellow, keeping a steady gaze on him.

“Janus”, Virgil hissed, “If I weren’t impaled right now I would strangle you.”

Janus scoffed: “I’m offended Virgil, I’m merely here to help.”

He smiled sweetly and Roman caught the sight of a small fang as he did.

“As if. You’re here because if you help me, _I owe you_ and that’s not going to happen.”

He tried to move again but Logan and Patton restricted his movements.

“If he can help you, does that matter so much?” Logan asked.

“You do realize he’s a witch right? I’d rather go sell my soul to the nearest crossroads demon.” 

“Witch or not, he’s our best shot”, Patton berated. “What other options do we have?”

Janus crouched next to him. “I could always leave you to die.”

Virgil wanted to argue with him, but his logic said otherwise. He needed help and Janus could provide. Unwillingly, he agreed: “Fine. I’m guessing I have to trust you on this?”

“Oh goodness no”, he said. “But I guess a little faith wouldn’t be out of order. Logan, be a dear and bring me the brown bag I gave you?”

Logan handed him what he requested: “What are you going to do? Use a spell?”

“Probably. But first, let’s see what the problem is.”

He poked at the blade, making Virgil cry out in pain in the process. Remus had to stop his brother from grabbing Janus as he was absolutely furious.

“You’re supposed to heal him, not torture him!”

“Relax, I’m just looking at what I have to work with.”

“Use your eyes then damn it!” Virgil screamed, his nails digging into his palms.

“Come now Virgil, you know me. I wouldn’t hurt you on purpose.”

“You have tried to kill me on numerous occasions!” he fumed.

“Those were meant to maim or seriously injure, never to kill!” Janus protested. He collected himself before he advanced.

“All jokes aside, I know what I’m doing.”

He let his fingers glide across the blade, the warm yellow a stark contrast to the dark and cold metal. With a swift flick of his wrist, he pulled the dagger out, red staining his gloves like raindrops, the blood rushing out of the wound, sending Virgil unconscious for real this time.


	6. This is why I don't socialize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Would you like some snarky Janus and Virgil dynamic? Or Roman fawning over an unconscious Virgil? Or some dukeceit? Yeah. You do. Don't lie. That's the specialty of our witch. And isn't there one big lie to be unraveled tonight...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for your kuddo's and comments! They absolutely make my day and make it worth while, even if it's just a few shrieks or hearts <3! This chapter is a little shorter, sorry! I didn't want to keep you guys waiting too long but I really wanted to post something so here's the next one. I hope y'all enjoy it!
> 
> TW: wounds, blood, death mention, dagger mention, guns, self deprecation, poison. As always, if I missed anything, please tell me.
> 
> You're always welcome to say hi on tumblr, @crazydemigod666!
> 
> Special thanks to perfectnightalpaca: my editor, proofreader and close friend, without whom I would never have had the courage to write this!

“Please, I-I, I have a family!”

Virgil smirked as he cocked his gun, his fingers tracing the delicate etching on the handle.

“No, no you don’t.”

“I have money! It’s in the safe, you can take it! I’ll give you the code!” the man staggered backwards into a wall, hands raised in a pleading manner.

“I know, I know, but honestly I couldn’t care less”, Virgil raised his Colt, the barrel pointed at his chest. He considered firing a few bullets in the wall behind him, just to scare the man a little bit, but he wasn’t one to spend witch killing bullets for naught.

“I’m begging you! Have mercy!”

Virgil couldn’t take it anymore. He lowered his gun and nearly doubled over in laughter.  
“Are you always like this?” he asked breathlessly.

The man pinned against the wall let out a chuckle, adjusting his bow tie and tipping his bowler hat as he regained his posture. “Only when I don’t know my adversary.”

His voice was smooth and charming, nothing like the frightened act he put up before.

“You already know my name, given the fact you’ve been going around town asking for me.”

Virgil put the safety on his gun, keeping it close to him as he let the witch approach him. “James Dean Williams”, he exclaimed, “very generic names don’t you think?”

“Come to point a gun at me just to insult me?” he laughed.

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t dare to insult James Dean Williams.”

The witch crossed his arms and rested his head on his hand, trying to hide his growing pile of questions. This youngster had the audacity to break into his home, threaten him and even make sarcastic comments and yet, he hadn’t asked for fame or fortune. Either he wished to make a deal of some sorts, he was a witch after all, or judging from the way he held his gun and wasn't scared of him (as far as he could tell) this person was no ordinary burglar.

“However, I don’t mind insulting Janus ‘Deceit’ Desmarais.”

Janus felt a chill run down his spine. In the 300 years he had roamed this blue marble of a planet, only two people knew his real name: his mother who gave it to him, may her soul rest in peace in the nicest corner of hell, and his rat of a boyfriend.

His muscles tightened and the glamour around his face faltered, revealing hints of gold and emerald scales. He kept a steady gaze upon the intruder before him, pupils turned to slits and fangs bared.

“Who. Are. You.“ he hissed defensively.

Virgil took in the danger. After the intel he had gathered, he learned that ‘Deceit’ wasn’t just a funny nickname. Janus Desmarais, son of Elise Desmarais, born 1697 in France, supposedly died in a strange house fire after his mother was accused of witchcraft and killed because of it. They were right, of course, but that hadn’t stopped Janus from exacting revenge.  
Crops faltered, harvest failed, animals died and people started mistrusting everyone around them. All Janus did, was cast a couple of spells and tell a few lies. But his silver tongue held more power than he knew and as he continued to perform his magic, he himself started to look like the snake he was portraying.  
Like all snakes, you did not want to thread on this one.

Virgil held up the gun with two fingers, showing that he wasn’t going to use it. At least, not yet.

“I’m Virgil, and I’m a hunter”, he said truthfully. “And I’m actually here to kill you.”

_Why would you end with that you absolute walnut._

He decided to ignore his thoughts for a moment and explain to Janus before he had a chance to kill him instead.

“But, I might be willing to hear you out first.”

Janus narrowed his eyes, eyeing him suspiciously. “Hear me out on what?”

“Well, I’m sure you’re aware we hunters venture into town whenever there’s something supernatural to investigate.”

He took his silence as approval to continue.

“What brought me to this town, was the recent murder of one Connie Sheppard.”

“I’ve heard, yes.”

“And from what I’ve gathered, everything points to you.”

“What?” Janus let out a soft gasp, but his stance still wide. “I have done nothing against her! I barely even knew her!”

“But you did know her.”

Janus ran a gloved hand through his blond hair as he took off his hat and placed it on the table between them. “ I’ve encountered her exactly twice. On both of those occasions, she was passing by and stopped to say hello, nothing more than small talk. I have had nothing to do with her death.”

They exchanged looks in silence.

“I believe you”, Virgil said as he placed his gun back into his pocket.

“You do?” Janus was surprised to hear the honesty in his voice. Sure, he could make people believe almost anything he told them, but to hear someone believe him without doubt trailing behind their words when he _wasn’t_ lying? The amount of people that gave him that form of trust could be counted on a single finger.

“I do. But the evidence suggests otherwise. I’m willing to let you in on it and not shoot you on the spot for being a witch, if you can help me find out who really killed that girl.”

He hesitated. Hunters were never to be trusted, no matter the circumstances. Then again, this was a special case. With a not so normal hunter, so it seemed.

“Why should I trust you?”

“You shouldn’t.”

Janus grinned. “I like you, Virgil.”

Finally, he reached out a hand. “You have a deal.”

Virgil blew his bangs out of his face as he shook his hand. He noticed a small, green circle forming on his hand as he did so.

“Really, you’re gonna try and poison me now?”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying”, he smirked.

Virgil was going to learn to hate and love that smirk.

\------------------------------------------------------

It’s a good thing Remus could shapeshift into a kraken this quickly because the speed at which Logan, Patton and Roman were going after Janus was, well. Not natural.

“Calm your freaking tits please!” he yelled at the three men struggling in his arms, er, tentacles.

“Excuse me?” Logan yelled as he tried to free himself.

“Calm. _Calm. CALM?”_ Patton screamed. “How do you expect us to calm down? Your friend was supposed to heal Virgil and now he’s bleeding out!”

“He _is_ you dumb shit! Look!” Remus pointed them toward Janus who was muttering spells under his breath. Slowly, the blood flow slowed down, almost hovering above the wound.

He carefully took off his gloves, revealing a scaled left hand and placed them above Virgil’s abdomen. A green glow engulfed his fingertips, creeping around the wound. It’s a good thing Virgil wasn’t awake as the looks of it weren’t exactly pretty.

Inch by inch the wound closed itself, sealing the gash left by the demon blade.

Satisfied with what they saw, Roman, Logan and Patton calmed down. Remus promptly let go of them and sat himself, now back in human form, next to Janus as the others tried to get rid of the mucus covering them.

“Will he be okay?” Roman asked after he cleaned himself up as best as he could.

“Maybe”, he replied, his brow furrowed as he focused on Virgil. “It’s taking up a lot more energy than it should.”

The wound wasn’t anywhere near closed as Janus’ hands started to tremble. “Bag”, he groaned.

“Which one?” Patton asked.

“Blue one. Metal flask inside.”

Patton picked the flask and handed it to Janus. “What is it?”

“Some kind of potion?” Logan asked.

Janus opened the flask and took a big swing of it. “Whisky”, he said. “Now, black bottle please.”

Logan ruffled through the bag and gave him what he wanted.

_“This”_ , he glanced at Logan, “is a potion.”

He poured the content onto Virgil’s abdomen. “Now he should be fi-“

Virgil started to stir, squirming on the forest floor, the liquid fizzing on his skin.

“Uh, Dee, is that normal?”, Remus moved his fingers to touch it before Janus slapped them away.

“No, it is not”, he cursed something the others didn’t understand. By the amused face Remus made, it must’ve been something very unholy.

“Why, what’s wrong with it?” worry found its way into Patton's question.

“It’s not supposed to fizz like that. There’s nothing in there that could cause it: sage, phoenix tears, holy water…nothing should react like this.”

Roman moved forward and placed his hands onto Virgil’s shoulders. “Whatever it is, it’s hurting him. Fix it.”

“Bossy boyfriend your brother is, Remus”, he huffed.

“I am not his- you know what, I don’t even care anymore, just hurry up.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you can’t. You seem to be an adequate witch. Surely you must have other spells and potions you could use?” Logan queried.

“I am an excellent witch, and yes I do. However, I don’t know how Virgil will react to them. The one I just used was a fairly decent potion, but not the strongest one I have and he’s not exactly happy with this one, let alone the stronger ones. Besides, the wound is halfway closed. He can endure a bit more pain. I hope.”

“You hope?” Roman mocked. “Remus, I love you, you’re my brother but your friend here is demented. If he thinks he can pull this off he’s even crazier than you are.”

Remus put his hand to his chest with played offense: “How dare you?”

“Thank you, darling”, Janus said.

“No one is crazier than I am!”

Janus rolled his eyes. “Why do I love you again?”

“Good question, I think it’s the mustache that does it”, he placed a playful kiss on Janus’ cheek.

He brushed him away lovingly as he surely didn’t enjoy the kiss. “That caterpillar is a complete nuisance and I despise it. Absolutely disgusting, I don’t know why I put up with your nonsense, you trash goblin.”

“Oh I love it when you talk dirty like that. Makes me feel all bubbly, like boiling tar”, Remus grinned.

“Hey”, Roman snapped his fingers, “ time out for thee and time out for thee, focus on issues or focus on me, okay?”

Janus clicked his tongue: “What do you want me to do? Pour my strongest magic into him and hope it ends well?”

“Well that is what you normally do JanJan”, Remus muttered.

Janus examined Virgil: the blood was gone, even the droplets on his gloves. The big gash had downsized to the size of a tennis ball but hadn’t made any more progress after he poured the potion onto it except for the fizzing edges, which seemed to burn his skin. Virgil was getting even more restless and both Logan and Roman were restraining him more than they were comforting him.  
He should not have had this reaction. Based on what they told him, Janus had prepared and packed all he needed to treat Virgil for a stab wound created by a demon blade. His potions were to combat the unholy metal and its lingering effect while cleansing and healing human wounds. Every ingredient was pure, even handpicked by him and Remus, and Virgil by his knowledge wasn’t allergic to anything in his inventory.  
Perhaps…A thought occurred in his head.

“I would like to try something”, he told the others.

“And what would that be?” Patton demanded.

“Just a little test to see if Virgil will react to a potion.”

Logan and Roman eyed him warily. “Just a test?” Logan asked.

“Just a test”, he assured him.

They didn’t stop him as he grabbed another flask from his bags, similar to the ones Virgil had in his.

“Virgil, can you hear me?”

He grunted and for Janus that was affirmation enough. If he wanted this test to work, Virgil would have to be at least a little bit conscious.

“If my hypothesis is correct,“ he spoke an incantation and the liquid inside glowed, almost blinding them in the dark forest, “this is going to hurt a lot.”  
He sprinkled a few drops of it into the center of the wound.

For a few minutes, nothing happened. Virgil still squirmed a little, but nothing more than that.

Suddenly, Virgil surged upwards, thrashing wildly as screams of agony filled the air. Cries so shattering they could cut out your soul. None of them had ever heard anything like it before. Logan and Roman nearly released him out of sympathy.

“What have you done to him!?” Roman demanded, his low voice full of anger.

“Like I said, just a test and that test went like I expected it to. Maybe a lot more reactive than I thought it would.”

“You think?!” Logan fumed.

Both Remus and Patton were restraining him now too. “This is worse than when we had to hold you down, Roman! And you’re far stronger than Virgil is. Or should be!”

“I was in extreme pain, cut me some slack!” he snapped back. “And judging by how Virgil is reacting, I think _he’s_ in extreme pain!”

“Well given the fact that I put a, how do I explain this to you in normal words, extra strong holy water cocktail directly into his bloodstream, I’d say he is indeed in extreme pain.”

Before he had a chance to explain what he meant by that, Virgil rolled over with so much force he sent the twins towards the tree line. Luckily for them, they weren’t hurt by the impact.

Virgil clutched his sides, curling up into a fetal position.

Shadows were licking at his feet, the darkness making his pale skin look like a ghoul.

“I _might_ have underestimated Virgil’s reaction speed and intensity”, Janus admitted as he walked away from him.

“Could someone please explain what is going on?” Patton cried. “What is happening to him?”

As if on cue, Virgil snapped his head towards him, the shadows around him growing like vines as he lifted himself from the ground, the wound now fully closed.

“You didn’t tell me he could do _that_ ”, Remus teased his brother.

“Don’t you think if I knew I would have told you?!” was his answer.

He rushed towards him, a repetition of their previous game of tag. “Virgil”, he said slowly, “are you there buddy?”

Virgil was still clutching his body. Just because the wound was healed didn’t mean the pain was gone. He snarled and hissed, shaking his head frantically. The holy water mixture was boiling his insides, tearing at every fiber of his being. Well, at least half of his being as it triggered a deeper side of him to heal what the concoction was destroying.

Seeing him like this broke Roman’s heart. First he watched as his friend bounced around his room and jumped out the window, then he got attacked by demons. Now, it looked like Virgil was just a fragment of who he was, barely even human.

The worst part, was the fact that his stormy grey eyes, the ones he could get lost in if he ever stared into them long enough, didn’t look back at him anymore.

Instead his eyes locked onto black slates, the rings of his former irises a vibrant purple.

“Hurts”, he said, his voice layered and thick, unnaturally deep and nothing like the soft voice he usually carried.

“I know Virge but it’ll be alright. Calm down. Take a deep breath okay?”

The sheer energy Virgil radiated was enough to make all of them huddle together. None of them moved, scared to trigger Virgil into something he might regret later.

He looked at his friends before him and then at the shadows dancing on his hands. So many things going on, not enough and too much, too cold, too hot, the voices too loud, _SO LOUD!_

_No. No no no no no please_

_This can’t be happening_

_Not now_

_Why now?_

_I can’t screw this up_

_How am I supposed to fix this?_

_Failure_

_Freak_

_You can’t fix this_

_You always make things worse_

_Failure_

_This is what got Thomas hurt last time_

_And it will hurt them now_

_You will hurt them_

_They’re afraid of you_

_They hate you_

The shadows grew even larger as despair filled his head and tears gathered in his eyes.

 _Go on_

_They want to know what's going on_

_Show them_

_Show them what you are_

_They're nothing_

_No! I won't! I-_

He had worked so hard to repress this side of him. This side that ruined everything for him. That caused the other hunters to distrust him, to expel him. To take him away from Thomas. He had to do one thing right, one. Single. Thing. Keep this under control. And he couldn’t do it.  
Why couldn’t he? Of all the things Thomas had taught him, this was the most important one. _Remember, Virgil._

He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, unaware of how the shadows were looming over his friends as they tried to reach him.

_Remember_

_“You need to control it, Virgil.”_

 _“I’m trying!”_

_“You either do it or you don’t. There’s no in between.”_

_“I know! It’s just so much. I don’t want to listen to it but I can’t-“_

_“Breathe, Virgil. If you can’t control it you’re going to hurt yourself and the people you care about. Do you want that to happen?”_

_“Of course not!”_

_“Then take control. Focus.”_

Why wasn’t Thomas here? He needed him. No, he had made this decision on his own. Thomas wasn't here, oh god where was Thomas? What if he was trapped? Or dead? No, that, he can't, NO! He couldn’t depend on him forever. One problem at a time. This was his mess, not Thomas’. Or Logan’s or Patton’s or Roman’s or anybody! But they were all here, they saw him like this. 

_Time to panic and or cry_

His breathing got quicker and his mind more frantic. He tried to wipe away his tears but found his hands restricted. He looked up to see Roman holding them, visibly frightened but no less determined, his face full of worry and pity.

No, not pity. Empathy. Compassion. _Love._

“Virgil, listen to me." 

"Roman?" 

He placed a hand on his cheek, softly brushing away the tears coming from his obsidian eyes. "I know your mind is telling you all sorts of bad things and I want you to ignore them, okay? You’re not a failure, Virgil. And I’m not afraid of you, nor do I hate you.”

“You should. You don’t know what I’ve done, what I am. If you did you would hate me.”

_Filth_

_Failure_

_Half good as a human and even worse as a hunter_

He pressed a hand to his head, nails scraping along his scalp in a desperate effort to shut the thoughts out.

Another hand took the one beside his head. "You're going to hurt yourself like that", Logan spoke softly.

He and Patton had come closer too, determined to stand behind Roman and take whatever means necessary to bring their Virgil back.

“It doesn’t matter to us what you are Virgil, but who you are. You’re our friend and we won’t abandon you.”

"Stop it", he cried. " You don't know what you're saying. You should be afraid now that you've seen me like this. You _have_ to fear me...Hate me."

“I won’t. None of us ever will”, Roman said confidently.

“I can’t-“, Virgil stuttered, “I don’t…”

Patton started to sing quietly as he embraced him:

_Let's go in the garden_  
_You'll find something waiting_  
_Right there where you left it_  
_Lying upside down_

“Everything is going to be okay, kiddo”, Patton comforted him, “ we love you.”

_When you finally find it_  
_You'll see how it's faded_  
_The underside is lighter_  
_When you turn it around_

"We'll figure this out. Together." Logan's usual furrowed brows and curled lips were replaced with a soft smile.

_Everything stays_  
_Right where you left it_  
_Everything stays_  
_But it still changes_

Roman's bright eyes shone through the shadows and his charming voice cut though the veil of worries clouding his mind: "You belong with us, Virgil."

_Ever so slightly_  
_Daily and nightly_  
_In little ways_  
_When everything stays..._

The buzz of the voices died down with everything they said, drowning them out until they were nothing but mere whispers.

“Yeah don’t expect us to go all My Little Pony on you like that”, Remus yelled from afar.

“What he said”, Janus added. “But you’re all doing wonderful!”

Virgil chuckled and the shadows started to dissolve, the black fading from his eyes until there was nothing left but the usual stormy grey. He slumped forward, trusting his friends to catch him into their arms until they had all engulfed him.

“Hi”, he croaked between the sobs, mostly from Patton. He shared a silent look with Roman. They would discuss their conversation at a later, more suitable time.

“If I had known you could make big viney shadow thingies I would have joined you in your training sessions!” Remus exclaimed as he and Janus crept closer.

“I’m not even going to ask how you know about those", he smiled, too tired to explore Remus more in depth. Roman would tell him eventually anyway.

“Best not”, Janus said. “You on the other hand, you’ve got some explaining to do, mister Sanders”, he poked him.

“I guess I do”, he sighed.

"Yeah, you do", Roman agreed. "You had us real worried, man."

"I know. I'm sorry."

He bit his lips nervously, hoping to avoid what would come next.

"You deserve to know."

"Know what?" Janus asked, even though he knew the answer.

"The truth."


	7. Here comes a thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Get ready for the truth it'll be revealing"
> 
> Virgil reveals his secret and we learn more about Thomas as well in a fun flashback chapter filled with not a single shred of angst! :D
> 
> "But I'm not what I seem or am I, stick around and you'll suddenly see more"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all like it and it lives up to your expectations! Sorry if my lore is whack but I'm whack too and before you know it, this happened.
> 
> Also, see notes at the end. Normally I put them at the beginning but I want you to read the chapter first. 
> 
> TW: blade/dagger, blood, violence, fighting, sexual innuendo's because well, Remus is Remus but nothing explicit

“He’s in the east wing!” a woman shouted, her words bouncing off the walls of the complex.

Several footsteps echoed through the halls, the sound getting closer and closer, the scraping of metal against granite disturbing their rhythm.

The complex, an abandoned hospital, had attracted many visitors over the past decade: ghouls, some kids with a desire for views and an adrenaline rush, a few homeless people...

Usually the ghostly inhabitants would take care of them. All they wanted was some peace and quiet, was that too much to ask? They could never find it here of course, but they didn’t know what else to do.

Today they would be put out of their misery. There were some special visitors after all.

However, their guests weren’t there for them.  
No, these special guests needed their home, and well. They were but ghosts. What is a ghost against a demon? Or a dozen of them.

The idea of so many demons and low life henchmen would have scared any hunter, seasoned veteran or not.

But Thomas was no ordinary hunter.

Not a single one of his hunts hadn’t been successful, no foul act left without punishment, not even a trace of his presence found and even if there was, he did not care. Hunting was all there was for him. Day in day out he followed objective after objective, never questioning why he did it.

Day in day out he was alone.  
Tonight was no difference as he roamed around the east wing. He walked down a flight of stairs, the zippers of his dark brown, hooded jacket matching the thumping of his feet. He scanned the open space, hoping to find the thing he wanted.

If what he was told was true, and it always was or so he believed, this thing was so incredibly powerful it could possibly start a war between Heaven and Hell, unleashing Armageddon and who knows what else. And he preferred it if this object wasn’t in possession of Hell spawn as he tried to find it before the demons caught up with him.

Even so, he had no intention to rush it, his pace even and slow. There was no need for haste. The instructions he was given were clear and the date and time exact.  
Thomas was never one to rush, if there was no need for it.

He didn’t like to fight but don’t let that fool you. His calm hides a storm that would not pass quickly when unleashed.  
The other hunters revered him for it, but they also feared him. He was off, not really like them. Never staying for a beer, never sharing more than necessary and always on the move.

After a careful walk around the room, the old chapel of the hospital to be precise, he thought he found it. The demons that surrounded him confirmed his suspicion.

“Well, well, well, a lonely man in an abandoned hospital”, a short demon near the altar spoke with a Scottish accent.

“Sounds like a joke am I right?”

The demons laughed nervously, trying to please what appeared to be their boss.

“But seriously, you really want to die horribly tonight, don’t you lad?”

Thomas internally laughed at the thought: “No, not really. I’m just here to get that.” He pointed at a bundle of cloth on the altar.

“And what makes you think you can even get to it? You’re surrounded. Not a single person can hear you scream when we kill you.”

The others edged forward, eager to start the carnage they had in mind before Thomas slipped a blade from his sleeve, causing them to hesitate.

“I’m guessing you know who I am, _what_ I am”, he held the blade firmly in his hand. “I am leaving with what I came for and I’m going to crush it into teeny tiny pieces, is that clear?”

The demon’s smile faltered as he narrowed his blackened eyes. “Like you’re even capable of doing that.”

“Look, um, what’s your name? Nevermind I’m gonna call you Bill. Listen, Bill, I don’t want to fight you and I know that you guys don’t want to fight me either, but I can’t exactly leave without it. I’m not one to disobey orders, well, not really, so”, he held the blade up high, “either you leave, or I will put this angelic metal through your skull.”

The demon, very unhappy to be called Bill, gestured for the others to come closer again. “It’s just you against over a dozen of us. And as you know, we’re not one to disobey orders either.”

He snapped his fingers and the demons attacked, lashing at Thomas and snarling viciously.

Thomas moved fluidly, letting them run into each other and stumble over themselves. He dodged their jabs, driving his angel blade into their chests. The old benches cracked and shattered with every demon he threw upon them.  
He swept across the room, his feet gracefully crossing the strewn bodies while the dust settled around them. He felt sorry for the vessels, but he had no time to ponder over their souls.

The blade, now licked with blood, shifted from hand to hand, like a ballerina switching positions on her pointes as he slew demon after demon until there were but a handful left.

This moment, this dance of blood and sulfur was what made Thomas such an incredible hunter. For all the years he roamed the earth as a hunter this was why he excelled where others failed. His cunning edge, his determination, his cold swift flicks of the blade.

He despised it.

Finally, Thomas had enough of this choreography.

“I give you one more chance to leave and return to Hell”, he exclaimed.

The demons were panting, some of them bloodied and bruised and they looked at Bill for an order.

He yelled fiercely, doing his best to sound intimidating: “Who the bloody hell do you think you are?!”

Thomas’s cheeks were straining from the movement they made, the corners of his lips curling upward. He grinned, which was not that uncommon for him to do, but when he did it wasn’t because of genuine joy.

Later in life, he would find himself to do that, laugh genuinely, and when he did the stars would dull in comparison because it was meant for something wonderful, something worth the strange movement he had learned not to perform too much.  
This grin however, meant trouble for those who witnessed it.

“Who do I think I am?” he said slowly, mocking his words.

He straightened his back and tugged the blade back up his sleeve, unbothered by the red stains it left behind. He cracked his neck and looked him straight in the eyes as his own dark honey eyes swiftly changed to bright, clear blue.

White burning light adorned his body, growing ever so great in volume and intensity, blinding the demons as it filled the room, the only shadows left cast by his wings.

“I am an angel of the Lord.”

The few demons who had witnessed an angel smiting their brethren rapidly left in a huff of black smoke. The others who weren’t as fast experienced firsthand what angelic light feels like until Thomas was the only one standing.

He folded his wings and walked over to the bundle on the altar, raising his hands to get rid of the artefact until he heard something.  
Faint hiccups, sobbing and then screeches filled the chapel, disturbing the eerie silenced that preceded it moments ago.

He stopped, assuring himself he must have been mistaken until the bundle started to move. Carefully, Thomas picked it up and removed some of the cloth until a pair of stormy grey eyes filled with tears stared back at him.

“This can’t be possible.”

Right there in his arms, a baby was crying. A child in the hands of demons could mean two things: one, the Anti-Christ was born. That option was unlikely, surely something like _that_ would be all over Angelradio and Thomas would definitely have received charge over a garrison to take care of that. Then, there was the last option. If this were true, then this was the thing he was ordered to destroy, the thing that would carry either Hell or Heaven to victory with the ruins of earth in its wake. Centuries had passed, millennia flew by since the last one was ever heard of, not to mention being cradled by an angel of all beings. A vile creature, unholy, the unnatural mixture of the infernal and the civilized creation God told him to love more than Him. He stared at it in disbelief: how could a demon half-ling be so small, fragile and adorable?

“Hey there buddy”, he whispered. He cooed the child, trying to stop its cries. “You’re not bad, are you?”

The baby cried even harder at that.

“Right, not the best way to calm you. How do humans usually do this?”

He got no reply other than a few screams.

“For Heaven’s sake okay, um…Singing? Isn’t that what they do? What do they sing? I don't sing much, it's not really wanted of me, little one..." His eyes were pleading, and his cry tugged at his heart, slowly unraveling the tight knot millennia of angelic training had made.  
He sighed: "Lullabies? I know a few pop songs, don't tell Zachariah that. Would you like that, perhaps?”

The screaming died down a little and he took that as a yes. He cleared his throat and proceeded to sing the verses of a song he distantly remembered:

_Take a moment to think of just_  
_Flexibility, love, and trust_  
_Take a moment to think of just_  
_Flexibility, love, and trust_

The baby calmed down; his crying stilled to a few sobs

_It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay_  
_You've got nothing, got nothing, got nothing, got nothing to fear_  
_I'm here, I'm here, I'm here_

Thomas hummed some more until nothing more remained but a few hiccups.  
“See, it’s okay baby.”  
He cradled him, not sure why he was so bent on comforting him. Horror struck as he realized what he was supposed to do with him.

“No, I can’t think of him, _it_ , like that. This is a _cambion_ , Thomas, the offspring of a demon and a human. You know what could happen.”

Truth was, he didn’t. It had never happened before that a cambion wasn’t immediately killed before it was even born, the light of sun never touching one's face. But if he didn’t obey, if he let this child live, who knows what kind of evil might be unleashed.

The baby stared back at him, even as an infant it looked kind of worried for Thomas.

A thought crossed his mind, a thought he didn’t like but couldn’t shake. 

“I can’t kill you”, he sighed, “but I can’t let you live and become what Heaven and Hell expect you to be either.”

He groaned and mentally kicked himself. This wasn't just a loose interpretation of an order or a loophole he could convey to the other angels. He couldn't write it off as 'divine intervention' or a sudden word from God. This wasn't like that time back in Egypt in 1440 BC, or that time in Venice in 1349. Oh no, anything _but_. He cursed himself, which was incredibly ironic coming from an angel but he found it appropriate, given the plan that was enfolding in his head.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but, I guess you’re mine now, storm cloud.”  
“Bwawh?” the baby babbled.

“Bwawh indeed”, he bopped him on the nose, “guess you need a name too. How about Castiel?”

He drooled but gave no other response. “Hm okay what about Samandriel? Or something less Biblical? Would you like that?”

“Bwah!”

“Alright then, what about Virgil?”

He tickled him lightly, getting fits of laughter as a result.

“Yeah, I think Virgil is a good name for you.”  
\---------------------------------------  
“No fucking way…”

“Language!” Patton smacked Remus on his arm.

Remus payed him no attention, instead he started poking his brother in his side. “Bro, you’ve been crushing- “

Roman quickly put a hand over his mouth, his cheeks flushed pink: “I have been crushing _my exams_ of course, right Remus?”

Remus teasingly wiggled his eyebrows before he licked his hand.

“Oh my god that is disgusting ew!” Roman quickly wiped his hands on his pants.

“As I was saying, you’re a _demon_?”

“ _Half demon_ ”, Virgil corrected him. “I am only half demon.”

“Fascinating”, Janus muttered. “I’ve never heard of a half demon before, certainly not one so, undemonic.”

Virgil glared at him. “I try my best to be _normal_ , Janus.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us, kiddo?” Patton asked. “You’re just like us!”

“I am _not_ just like you!” Virgil snapped.

Patton backed away, trying to hide the hurt he felt by that.

“Patton no, I-“he sighed, letting his head fall in his lap. “That’s not what I meant. Look”, he brushed the bangs out of his face as he tried to explain.

“You guys, you’re not like me. Everyone of you has a chance to be normal. When you slip up, the worst that can happen is someone near you getting hurt or, and this is something I don’t think has happened to any of you, you accidentally kill one, maybe two people. If _I_ slip up, I can level _a town_ or worse.  
You all have someone like you to ask for help, you had each other while I only had Thomas and even he couldn’t provide me with an answer to every question I had. And I don’t even know where he is or if he’s even…”

His breath started to hitch, and his heart was picking up speed again.

“Virgil”, he looked up and saw Logan placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, providing much needed grounding. “You are safe with us. We’ll figure this out together, alright?”

He tapped his shoulder, a steady 4, then 7 and finally 8, guiding Virgil’s breath to a slower pace.

“You’re not leaving?” he asked finally. “Would you go through all this trouble?”

“Through every last bit”, Roman promised for all of them.

“So, now that that’s settled”, Janus kneeled beside him, “I believe my job here is done.”

“You poured holy water in my wound, you jack ass, you did the opposite of helping”, Virgil hissed at him.

Janus hissed back with more venom, even though he meant none of it. Whereas Virgil was like an angry kitten, Janus should not be linked with such feline attributes.

“Don’t you hiss at me boy, you’re subpar compared to me. And I am downright hurt, Virgil, devastated even. Me? Not helping? You’re healed aren’t you?” he gestured toward the hole in his shirt, the only evidence of injury left.

“I healed _myself_ ”, he objected.

“And you wouldn’t have done that without my help. So now, I would like my payment.”

“ _Payment_?” Roman scoffed, “Remus if you love this, this bananaconda you better make sure I don’t beat him to a pulp.”

“Now, now, no need to get your anger up”, he tapped him on the cheek. “He does owe me something.”

“I do _not_ owe you _anything-_ “, 

“Except for a thank you, no?” Logan cut him off. “Without him, you would have died, Virgil.”

He did aid in some way to help him heal. Granted, he would only admit to that because Logan pointed it out but he would never admit that to Janus. He rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you, but I guess…”

“What was that?” Janus put a hand against his ear. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I _said_ thank you”, Virgil grumbled. 

“Wonderful! Now I would still like something in return”, he raised a hand to stop anyone from protesting, “it’s not an I.O.U. I would like some angel feathers and a few vials of your blood.”

“I beg your pardon mister”, Patton exclaimed as he protectively put his arms around Virgil. “Touch him, I dare you.”

“Padre, calm down, Virgil can speak for himself”, Roman gently pried him away, providing himself a shield as he slid behind Virgil.

“What do you want with it?” he asked.

“Nothing special, just handy to have just in case. The amount of power an angel feather provides is incredible and now you’re telling me you were _raised_ by one? I could have an endless supply!”

“Oh can you do that time travel spell then?” Remus asked excitedly. “So we can go back in time to Greece and”, he brushed his nose against Janus’ neck,” have some fun, find out how good their olive oil _really_ is?”

Virgil gagged when Remus kissed the snake side of Janus’ face: “I can’t believe you share genetic material with him.”

“Neither do I, friendo. Neither do I…” Roman sighed.

“Anyway, I would like them as soon as possible, that is, if Thomas should return. If I had known he was an angel I would have plucked some myself when he came over last time.”

“He what?” Virgil stared at him in disbelief. “When did he come over?”

“During the summer, a few months back actually. Asked me to give you a new room. I didn’t know he was playing matchmaker though,” he pointed a finger at the two of them.

“I have no idea what you mean”, they said as they avoided looking at the other.

“Wait, back up a few seconds. He was here? And he didn’t tell me? Or stopped by?” Virgil looked heartbroken. “Why would he hide anything from me?”

“Well from what you told us he sounds like a secretive man”, Logan pointed out.

“That was when he found me, before he left.”

“Left what?” he asked.

“Heaven.”

They stared at him, starstruck and mouths agape.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” 

“They can do that? Angels…They can just, leave Heaven?” Roman asked.

“It’s not like he was welcomed back when they found out he kept me alive. He disobeyed. He rebelled. I don’t know how good your knowledge of angels is but the last time anyone did that…”

“All hail Satan, right?” Janus smirked.

“Right, but he didn’t, you know, get cast out. They haven’t seen or heard from God since like, the beginning and yes, they can prevent him from entering the Silver City again but he’s a seraph. He’s still incredibly powerful even when cut off from-“

 _‘Home._ ’ The word made a split second appearance before he eventually said:  
“Heaven. Even when he left it behind for me.”

“He changed for you”, Logan spoke softly. “Didn’t he?” 

Virgil saw how he glanced at Patton, hiding a growing blush. “Yeah. He changed a lot. That’s what happens when you care for someone. You try to be the best person you can for them and I think, in all honesty, he liked who he had become.”

He never gave it much thought, what Thomas’ life was before. He knew of course about what he was and what he had done but it didn’t matter to him. He was there to teach him how to walk and read, to comfort him when he cried, to help him calm down when he was scared. To Virgil he was the best father figure slash big brother he could have ever gotten, considering he didn’t have many other options, that is.

“This is all very sweet but I would prefer it if we could take this conversation indoors”, Janus suggested.

Virgil teased him: “Are you scared we’re going to catch a cold? My goodness gracious I didn’t think you were so sentimental!”

His remark got a raise out of him. “I am not sentimental. I just don’t like the cold, that is all.”

“Sure Jan.”

“Of course you don’t, my little murder spagurder”, Remus swept him off his feet and spun him around. “Let’s get you in bed, shall we” he winked.

“We should go back too”, Patton said. “We really don’t want to get sick here, do we?”

“Or eaten by something dangerous”, Remus joked.

“What if Remy is waiting for us? I don’t think he gives up that easily”, Virgil said.

Janus cleared his throat to speak as Remus whispered something in his ear. “I suppose you can stay for the night, granted you behave, at our place.”

“Why, Janus-“ Patton beamed.

“If you say I am sentimental or go all rainbows and puppies on me, Remy will not be the one you should fear tonight.”

He gulped: “Duly noted.”

“Are we all, okay with this?” Virgil asked. “Sleepover at the witch house?”

“It is closer than our dorm and we do need the warmth and sleep”, Logan pointed out.

After careful deliberation, they all agreed to spend the night with Janus and Remus.

“So”, Remus shapeshifted into a dragon for the umpteenth time that night, “you better not make out on my back or I’ll drop you.”

“I’d rather walk, man”, Virgil sighed.

“Or, I could carry you.” Roman jokingly made the offer, but in truth he just didn’t want Remus to meddle with them again.

“Brother dearest, I am _kidding_ , I won’t drop anyone! From too high” he grinned, rows of sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight. “I know you don’t like to shift like that, it’s fine.”

Roman mulled it over, taking deep breaths before he increased in size, sprouting leather wings and a long spiked tail, identical to that of his brother save for the garnet scales and golden gleam in his irises.

“Race you to it?”

He didn’t have to ask Remus that twice. 

Maybe he pretended he hadn’t seen that particularly large pine tree. Maybe he drifted just a little bit behind. Maybe he let his brother win their silly little race. Remus wasn’t a bad brother, far from it, and in all honesty, he had missed seeing Roman as happy as he was. Not that he would ever say it out loud.

“You’ve gotten rusty Rem! I won!”

“Yeah yeah I’ll get you next time, don’t let it get to your head too much.”

Still, Roman’s pride got a boost from it as he landed in front of a large cabin near the edge of the forest.

The heavy rock foundation supported an impressive network of dark wooden beams and pillars, connecting eventually on a small deck on the second floor. How Janus had managed to find it, or own such a place? Let’s settle on ‘magic’ as the answer, shall we.

“There’s a spare bedroom upstairs if you don’t mind sharing a bed”, Remus offered with a grin.

A pink blush crept across Virgil’s face as he politely declined with am impressive glare. “The couch will be just fine.”

“Remus.”

“Oh come one Jee, I was joking!”

“No, Remus”, Janus gestured towards the front door, “you closed the door when we left, right?”

Remus expression changed rapidly as he tensed up and held his guests back. “I sure did. Checked twice and put one of your warding sigils up as usual.”

“What’s wrong?” Patton asked a question he already feared the answer of which Logan quickly gave.

“I’m assuming you did not leave the door open, given that both Patton and I exited before you did and we heard you lock the door. Which means…”

“Someone had the nerve to break into my house”, Janus snarled.

“Wouldn’t be the first time”, Virgil said sarcastically, hiding the growing anxiety with his comment.

Janus ignored him as he walked up the stairs to his house, carefully inspecting his porch and front door.

“Whoever thinks he can get away unscathed after this has a knack for breaking and entering into a protected home.”

He looked up to see one of his sigils gone, the burned off remnants the only trace of their presence. “Emphasis on the ‘thinks’.”

He snapped his fingers and the sigil, or what was left of it, disappeared. “Remus, if you would be so kind.”

“My pleasure.” He opened the door further and scanned the room to make sure there was no one there to ambush them.

“Uhm, I think we need your demon pal here, Jan.”

“For the last time, half demon, stop rubbing it in”, he grunted as he trudged to join him in the door opening, “what do you need me f-“

He stopped, breath hitching as he took in the view of the hallway. He hadn’t been here in a long time, but he remembered how it looked during his last visit: a butterscotch colored hard wooden floor met cream walls adorned with several tapestries and paintings, reflected in the large gold framed mirror on the left. A chandelier hung in the center and its lights would all have been reflected on the floor if the carpets didn’t block their beams.

The house radiated refinement, elegance and mystery, fitting for the witch that owned it, inviting yet haunting.

Tonight it was mainly the latter.  
Red blotches speckled the wall. The tapestries lay crumbled on the floor, the carpet swayed away by bloody footsteps Virgil tried to avoid when he entered the witch’s domain.

“What. The actual. Hell”, he whispered as he felt something under his feet. Something soft.

He slowly made his way to the living room, following a trail of the things he stepped on.  
A trail of feathers leading to a figure sitting on the floor near the coffee table.

The figure breathed heavily while more feathers danced around him, his body limp and his face taut.

Virgil nearly forgot he needed air in his lungs.

“Hey Virge”, the figure rasped, “missed me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO I really REALLY liked the idea of Thomas finding baby Virgil and taking him in but upon rereading my previous chapters I realized I had written that Virgil was alone for a while before Thomas found him and then in a later chapter that Thomas practically raised him so of course, that doesn't add up. I went back and deleted/changed that part so now the events in this chapter are the correct ones. Nothing changes for the story but I figured it would be fair to own up to that mistake.
> 
> I hope you still enjoyed this though! Thanks again for all your lovely comments and kuddo's (and yes I will repeat that EVERY CHAPTER BECAUSE I APPRECIATE IT A LOT)


	8. Hmm watcha say?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I want to apologize for taking so long. A lot is going on right now and I had to prioritize my time and energy more. I've written some smaller fics, but I never got to work on this one properly. I hope the wait was worth it with this chapter. Thanks a bunch if you're still here and if you're new, thank you for taking the time to read this!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> TW: guns, injury, mentions of torture, some innuendos from Remus, swearing. As always, let me know if you want me to add anything!

“Steady now. Steady”

Thomas held his hands at the ready, just in case he was needed, but he believed he wasn’t. Not this time.

“Good, a bit higher now, that’s it, you’re doing great. Now, breathe in.”

_3 seconds in_

_3 seconds hold_

He pressed his lips together, waiting patiently, letting the seconds pass quietly and their heartbeats slow down until-

_Fire!_

The bullet met up with the tin can perfectly, cutting a clean hole through it and sending it to the grass underneath it.

“I did it!”

“You sure did, Virge! I’m so proud of you!”

After securing the gun from the boy and putting its safety on, he picked him up and hugged him tightly, not even letting go when they went to retrieve the can.

“Look at that!” he put the can and the now misshapen bullet in his hands.

Virgil looked at them with stars in his eyes. The past few weeks he had been training every day to use the gun he was given for his 10th birthday. That is, until he accidentally hit Thomas square in the chest.

_‘Never point your barrel at someone unless you want to shoot them.’_

And also _‘Don’t sneak up on someone with a gun._ ’ A rooky mistake, he admitted.

Virgil didn’t even want to see the weapon anymore since then.

The euphory Virgil felt now was a stark contrast to his misery after the accident.

“Do you think I could do it again?”

“Do I think it? I know it!”

Virgil put the can back on the stand, tracing the hole he created, the accident coming back to him as he did so.

_“Virgil”, Thomas whispered softly as he cried, hiding in his jacket under the stairs of their porch._

_“Virgil, I’m fine.”_

_He peeked out from behind the coat, pointing a finger at him. “But you could’ve died if you were human.”_

_Thomas chuckled. “Well, it’s a good thing I’m not, right?” He placed an arm over the boy, pulling him to his side. “Normal human boys don’t go shooting for their 10th birthday either.”_

_“I guess”, he shrugged._

_“Hey, it’s not easy, I know. You’re special, Virgil.”_

_“No, I’m just dangerous.”_

_“Everyone is dangerous in the right circumstances. The ones that are actually dangerous, are the ones that are careless. Are you?”_

_His shoulders slumped as he curled in on himself more._

_“I don’t know.”_

_“Ah, so you don’t care what happens to you? Or to me?”_

_Virgil gave him a sour look: “Of course I care. You’re my family! If anything happened to you…”_

_“You’ll be able to find me, help me best as you can and, worst case scenario, you avenge my death in a grand act of defiance that will shake up the world!”  
He shook his fist at the sky, receiving a small laugh in return._

_“We all make mistakes, Virgil. And that’s okay. If we never fail when we’re learning, the landing will be a lot harder later in life. So hard you might not even get up again.”_

_"Did you?”_

_“Did I what?”_

_“Did you fall?”_

_"You mean, did I make a mistake? When I took you in?"_

_Virgil stared at the grass in front of them, moving slowly in the soft evening breeze. "Maybe"_

_"Virgil", he put a hand to his face, brushing away some of the tears, " I won't say I don't miss certain things, certain people. But family doesn't end in blood, kiddo."_

_Thomas smiled fondly, ruffling his hair as he sighed. “I didn’t fall. I jumped.”_

_Virgil continued staring at the grass, the green rippling in the wind while he chewed on his thumb. “Because of me?”_

_“Mostly.”_

_“Do you regret it?”_

_They watched the sun set quietly, casting a warm glow over their little home._

_“Do you?”_

“Want to try again?” Thomas swung the gun around his gingers. “If you think you can manage.”

Virgil sighed, content with his earnings.

“I’ll show you, old man”, Virgil teased.

“Hey, I am only a few millennia’s old!” he poked him in his side. “I’ll buy you pie if you manage to hit 3 cans.”

“Better get going then” he ran back, ready to prove his worth.

\-------------------------------------------------

“Thomas”, Virgil gasped, jumping over the rubble before him.

“When did you-, how-, who-“ he looked at the wounds , still dripping with fresh blood.

Thomas winced as Janus sat beside them, a clean cloth collecting red at an alarming rate: “Just a run in with some old friends.” 

“Some friends you have”, Remus muttered. “If I did that to Roman he would whine all over the place.”

“You _did_ do that once and that was _not_ funny”, Roman retorted.

“But did you see the way the headmaster screamed? That was so fu-“

He met with Virgil’s eyes, rethinking his words. “So not appropriate. Right?”

“Right, Rem.”

Moving along to help Janus, Remus led the others to the kitchen to gather more supplies.

“Thomas”, Virgil spoke slowly as he watched Janus try to steep the wound, “What happened? I tried to call you so many times but you never picked up. Why didn’t you tell me this” he gestured towards him, “was happening? I could have come and helped you!”

Thomas tried to sit up, Janus swatting at his futile attempts until he gave up and let the witch do his work. “Nothing that required your help, Stormcloud. I handled it perfectly.”

“Ah yes, getting cut, beaten, bruised” Janus poked at a few purple spots on his face, receiving a hiss from the angel in return. “What, are your wings broken too? Judging from how you’re mangled on my living room floor, I would say that your little quest went far from perfect. Not to mention you’re staining my couch.”

“Apologies, Janus”, Thomas sucked in a shallow breath, “I figured coming here would be a good way to, you know, not bleed out in a ditch. The luxurious fabric of your couch is much more fun to dirty up.”

Janus rolled his eyes. “Were it not for the fact you’re already half dead I would kill you myself for that joke.”

“I beg your fucking pardon?” Virgil squirmed, fidgeting with his sleeves unsure of what to do with his hands in this situation.

“I am merely joking”, Janus assured him as the others returned with bandages and other supplies. “No one is dying tonight.”

“I sure hope so” Patton crossed his arms, sitting beside Virgil. “I wouldn’t want that to happen just when we’ve met Virgil’s family!”

Thomas chuckled, as far as that went without disturbing Janus too much as he patched him up. “I see you all got along well.”

“Of course we do!” Patton slung his arm around Virgil. “We’re a family too!”

“Patton, you don’t have to flatter him so much” Logan leaned against the side of the couch. “Clearly this isn’t an appropriate moment to discuss our initial meeting and development of our relationship with Virgil.”

“On one hand, I agree with you, Specs,” Roman leaned on his shoulder as he glanced between Virgil and Thomas, “ but on the other, we found out only hours ago Virgil over here is a half demon,”

“Half de-, oh you weren’t wrong this time”, Virgil blinked in surprise.

“I never am, Doctor Gloom and Doom”, Roman winked. “Anygay, as I was saying, we just found out Virgil is half demon half human, and his, what do we call you Thomas? His guardian? Is an actual angel. A beat up angel but, hey, I don’t judge.”

“Roman, that is literally 45% of your personality” Virgil chided.

“Yes, and?”

Virgil sighed, releasing some of the tension in his shoulders as he noticed Thomas healing up nicely. “I suppose I could ask you about why you orchestrated all of this.”

Thomas tilted his head, a smile painted on his face, masking the mischief behind it only barely. “You mean why did I go through all of the trouble to get you some roommates?”

“Oh my god, they were roommates” Remus gasped dramatically. 

“Hmm” Thomas laughed softly. “I like this one” he pointed at Remus. “But yes, there was a reason for that.”

He stared at the array of feathers at his feet, watching them dance as he swayed his feet around in silence.

“And?” Virgil urged him, glad to finally receive some answers.

“And what?” 

“What was the reason?” Logan demanded.

“Oh. I forgot.”

“You forgot??” the men around him exclaimed dumbfounded.

“I mean, I certainly know there is a reason, and I know it was an important one, but well, things happened, and I can’t seem to recall the reason” he tapped his cheek absentmindedly.

“What kind of things happened that you forgot something as important as that??”

“Well, for starters, I kind of died.”

 _“YOU DIED?”_ Virgil shot up, nearly knocking Patton in the face. “What do you mean you died!? You can’t die! I mean, you can, but like, you just can’t die Thomas! How and when did that happen?”

“I said kind of died. I only slightly got discorporated.”

“You got-, “ Virgil paced around frantically. “The last time you got, _discorporated_ , I had to put back your vessel piece by piece and that was _not easy nor exactly fast paced_ . How the Hell did you get discorpor-, how the fuck are you even alive here and now?!?”

“Virgil, calm down, it doesn’t help being this erratic”, Logan tried to soothe him.

“I mean, there’s a reason I’m getting first aid right now”, he hissed as Janus inserted some stitches”, instead of healing myself the way I used to. And besides, I lost my arm only once-“

“Lost your ar-, _lost you arm only once_ ” the men watched Virgil lap around the coffee table for a while, until he stopped muttering and halted before Thomas. “Thomas I am this close to ripping it off myself if you don’t tell me what happened right now.”

“Your boyfriend is kind of hot when he’s angry”, Remus whispered in Roman’s ear. 

“I will pretend you did not say that. And he’s not my boyfriend!”

“Yet” Remus smirked. “As entertaining as that would be to watch, I’d rather not have you defile our living space more than you already have. That’s my job.”

“You know, for a friendly person like you, you’re a strange fellow, Remus,” Patton put his chin in his hand has he stared at him from across the room.

“That’s not all I am, honey drop”, he winked suggestively.

“Hey, you two” Virgil sliced his hands through the air, “More important things here, right, Thomas?”

“Right, well”, Janus helped him sit upwards, “I was busy working a case where a serpent spirit was ravaging a lake overrun with tourism.”

“Did you let it eat the tourists?” 

“Of course not. I did however make an agreement with the spirit to not eat any innocent people. The owners of the lake who stole it from the locals? I haven’t been able work on that missing person’s case, unfortunately. Such a shame”, he sighed, voice laced with sarcasm.

“Hmm totally” the men agreed.

“So, as I was taking my leave, I ran into an old friend of mine. You remember Joan, right?”

Virgil scrunched his nose, recalling the memories of the regular visitor with the orange beanie.  
“Of course I remember Joan. How are they doing these days?”

“Is Joan another angel?” Patton asked excitedly.

“Oh no, definitely not. They're a demon, but a good one. If you ask me they taught Virgil a few too many tricks to get more ice cream after bedtime” Thomas smiled at him. “Occasionally they will give me some information about this and that. Help me out on a case if I ask nicely and promise to buy them pizza afterwards.”

Virgil crossed his arms, hiding a small smile. “You two really need to stop eating so much pizza, Thomas.”

“When Hell freezes over” he replied. “Which, might be sooner than you think.”

“What do you mean with that?” Virgil sat himself down on the coffee table in front of him.

Thomas scratched the back of his head. “Y’know, war and stuff. Makes room for possibilities.”

“I thought you said we were at a standstill. A sort of truce?”

“When is any side ever really at a truce. Heaven and Hell have been sending demons and angels to do dirty work for eons, you think they’re going to stop now?”

“Judging from your tone of voice, I suppose that is a rhetorical question?” Logan remarked in between.

“You’re not wrong Logan.”

Thomas reached for the pocket of his jacket, taking out a small roll of parchment.

“You see this” he held it up for them to see. “This is a lead to a major event that’s planned in this very city.”

“I assume you followed up on that lead and decided to not tell me even when I live here?”

“Ah. So, Janus told you?”

“No Thomas, I received it via divine communication-, yes Janus told me you were here and how you neglected to notify me of that.”

He didn’t even bother masking the hurt in his voice, sneering at Thomas as he did so. “You could have at least stopped to say hello.”

“I’m sorry Virgil, but this couldn’t wait. I was barely able to gather enough information on it as it was. Besides, I’d rather not risk involving you, especially with how well you were doing here, living a normal life.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want you around.”

“I never said-“

“But you implied it.” He put his legs up to his chest, ignoring the glare Janus shot him for putting his shoes on his table. “Besides, I share a room with a siren, a werewolf and a shapeshifter now. My life is as normal as all of us are straight.”

“He’s kind of right you know” Roman uttered. “If you were trying to keep his life normal, having all of us live together wasn’t the smartest move. Eventually we were going to figure things out. The fact that all of that happened at such a rapid rate was unexpected though.”

“It wasn’t much normal as it was safe”, Thomas cast his eyes down to the floor. “And I suppose that plan didn’t work out well enough either, judging from our current situation. Speaking of which, why are all of you out here?”

“Uh, midnight jog.”

“We were looking for a lost puppy-“

“But then we had to study for tests-“

“My stars, you are all terrible liars”, Janus buried his face in his hands.

“Whatever, that isn’t important now”, Virgil spoke again. “You were telling us about that lead? The major event? The reason you set this all up?”

“Oh, yes” Thomas furrowed his eyebrows. “I managed to track some demons down to the docks, but I guess my information wasn’t as up to date as it was when Joan acquired it.”

“As I was scouting the area, there were a lot more demons than I expected. And a few more angels too.”

“Angels? And demons? That aren’t murdering each other?”

“Trust me, I found it as surprising as you did. I figured I could slip in and just observe the scene, maybe get something useful out of that gathering, but as you can imagine, things never work out for us like that.”

“Don’t tell me you got caught.”

“I got caught.”

The man groaned, running his hands through his hair. “Okay, okay, fine, it happens, so what, they tortured the living shit out of you?”

“Virgil, mind the language” Logan said, letting his eyes rest on Patton who gave him a sour look for swearing.

“They tortured the living…?” He looked at Roman for help.

“Shizzle?” he offered.

“I am not saying that. Either way” he turned back to Thomas, “they caught you and beat you up, not the first time that happened.”

“Not exactly”, he straightened his back, “you see, Lucius was there.”

Virgil stared at him, colour draining from his face. “Lucius, as in, _that_ Lucius?”

Thomas gave him a small nod, tugging at his sleeves, a habit Virgil had picked up from him.

“Who is this Lucius?” Roman asked. “Another friend of you like Joan?”

“He’s anything _but_ a friend”, Thomas side-eyed him. “He used to be my superior officer.”

“Superior officer?”

“The one that ordered Thomas to kill me as a kid.”

They looked at Virgil in horror, shocked to learn about every bit of information Thomas gave them.

“So, does he”, Patton rubbed his arms in comfort, “does he know Virgil is…alive?”

Thomas stared at an random spot on the ground, avoiding the question that was sure to be burning in Virgil’s mind too.

“Thomas?” Janus eventually trudged on. “He doesn’t know, right?”

Thomas gave him an apologetic look, honey coloured eyes soured to a dark brown.

“Oh gods”, Janus muttered.

“They know I’m…but how? We kept this under wraps as best as we could. There’s not a single person alive that knows who-, what, I am. So how can Lucius…” he clutched the fabric of his shirt.

“He doesn’t know it’s _you_ ”, Thomas spoke again. “He just knows that I didn’t follow orders that night. And he wasn’t happy to find out. However, beating the living shizzle out of me”, he looked at Patton briefly, “was gratifying, I suppose.”

“What did you tell them?” Virgil whispered, anxiety threatening to take over his body.

“To shove it where the sun don’t shine” Thomas smiled gently. “They didn’t get anything from me but a nice beating. I had to be sure they didn’t get anything important besides that, though.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I had to, how do I say it, remove some of my memories about you, such as the memory of why and how I managed to find all of you together. They can’t torture me for information about who and where you are if I don’t remember it.”

“Don’t worry” he held up his hands to stop Virgil from surging forward, “The important ones are still there.”

“How does one do that, exactly?” Logan wondered. “You can’t just erase parts of your memory like that. And certainly not in such a way that you still know who Virgil is, or who were are, and that you remember orchestrating us living together but not how you found out about us. It’s like you dissected parts of your brain and puzzled pieces together that don’t exactly fit.”

“Oh I would love to try that out one day” Remus clapped his hands excitedly. 

“Certain spell I learned from a skilled witch” he nodded towards Janus.

“What” the snake faced witch chuckled. “Just because he’s an angel doesn’t make him all knowing. I’m more than just a nurse to heal your wounds.”

“Okay, so, by some way of magic, you decided Virgil needed us to be safe, which, really, I wouldn’t call that a compliment given how easily Virgil can take us out when he wants to-“

“I nearly had him last time!” Roman yelled in frustration.

“and this was needed” Logan continued, “I assume, because you were worried about the event taking place here?”

“Among other things.”

“And as soon as you noticed this Lucius was aware of Virgil being alive, or at least, the child he thought you had disposed of, you managed, _by some form of magic_ to alter your own memories so they couldn’t torture the information out of you?”

“Yup.”

Logan moved towards the wall, dropping his head against it. _“This is ridiculous this isn’t how it works, none of this sounds even in the slightest like it should be, this is madness, absolute folly, insanity, bloody nonsense-“_

“Uh, Logan, you good there?” Virgil hesitantly held up a hand in emphasis. Patton patted him on the arm as he moved towards Logan. “Just let him take it all in, Virgil.”

“It’s okay Logan,” he gently laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’re doing great.”

 _“This doesn’t make any sense! It just-, doesn’t add up! Nope! It doesn’t-“_

“He-, he’s a werewolf, right? And like, none of us is human?” Remus stared at him quizzically. “I mean except for Jannie but like, he’s a witch, so, that doesn’t count.”

“Logan likes to provide scientific background to all things supernatural.” Roman answered him. “Trust me, when we had a discussion about how I was able to create more matter for my shapeshifting than I actually have in my normal form, we’re fighting for over a week.”

 _“THAT STILL DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE, PRINCEY!”_

“Ooookay, I am…not going to ask further about that” Virgil ignored the senseless muttering coming from Logan and the comforting words from Patton. “So, how did you get away from them?”

“Well, that’s the fun part” Thomas groaned. “You see, demons and angels, they really don’t like each other, even being in the same vicinity is a giant thorn in their sides. So imagine what happens when both of them need to work together, and both sides want to beat me to a pulp.”

“They fought each other over you, didn’t they?” Janus mused.

“Oh, you betcha. Honestly it wasn’t that hard to get out of my restraints, but the chaos did help. The sad part is how I made my escape out of the building they held their party in.”

He leaned on his knees, careful not to pull the fresh stitches as Virgil narrowed his eyes at him.

“Thomas, what did you do?”

“I may have, kind of, had to…carve a banishing sigil using my body as a vessel resulting in me getting blasted across town along with every other angel that was there…”

Thomas expected a murderous gaze, a lecture so filled with call outs and burning remarks it could burn the entire continent. He did not expect Virgil to stare at him blankly, until the corners of his mouth started to twitch, eventually curling up until he was laughing, madly cackling and holding his head in his hands.

“Thomas you are such a fucking idiot sometimes!” he chortled. “I can’t believe you did that!”

Virgil’s boisterous laugh filled the living room, enticing a small laugh from Janus, then Remus, until his own voice meshed with that of the chuckles of everyone around them.

“I suppose I am” Thomas said, wiping away a tear. “But hey, it worked, didn’t it!”

“You’re not wrong”, Janus breathed, “and that does explain the state of your body. But really, must you be such a moron most of the time?”

“I am offended, Janus.”

“Pardon me, a moron _all_ of the time” he corrected himself.

“That’s better.”

“Okay, so, what now?” Virgil said, leaning over the couch.

“Investigate, obviously” Roman replied. 

“Absolutely not” Virgil interjected. “I agreed to train you all, but this is way out of your league.”

“I agree with Virgil. I am grateful for the help so far”, he slightly bowed at Janus, “But this is not a matter for any one you.”

“See?” 

“That includes you, Stormcloud.”

“I’m sorry, are you benching me?” Virgil scoffed.

“Yes, yes I am. I don’t want to have you any closer to the action than you already are”, Thomas got up, swaying slightly on his feet.

“As soon as I’ve regained my power, I will continue working on this case. You don’t need to get involved.”

“Thomas, with all due respect” Virgil walked over to him, “ but you can’t fucking bench me.”

“Yeah I agree with Emo Virgin here” Remus gave him a lopsided grin. “He will just do it anyway, with or without your permission.”

“Not to mention, we won’t let you do anything on your own either” Roman joined his brother. “You wanted us to keep Virgil safe? Then live with the consequences.”

“Now hang on, I didn’t say-“

“Well, too bad”, Logan joined him after having rebooted his brain. “Surely after tonight, you don’t think we would let you go on about this alone?”

“I should be really mad at you for saying that.”

Patton trotted over to them, leaning on Logan. “Aw, but you aren’t, are you? You love us just as much as we love you!”

“Look at that, he’s definitely blushing behind that white grime of his face.”

“I am not, it’s from the bloodloss.”

“Wait, bloodloss”, Thomas interrupted. “You got injured?”

“That’s not of importance right now, Thomas” Virgil gently pushed him on his shoulder. 

“What matters is, we’re going on a hunting trip.”


End file.
